New Delhi. If India has to win the Pune Test match, it will have to score 359 runs. New Zealand has set this difficult target for India. Pune's pitch is helping the spinners. The circumstances are in favor of New Zealand. But about 16 years ago the circumstances were similar when India won the match. Then Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag had given India a charismatic victory. If we have to win the second test match against New Zealand then now some batsman will have to take this responsibility.
16 years ago, when the Test match was played in Chennai, India had created history. England had given India a target of 387 runs in that match. Before that match, even 300 runs had never been chased on Indian soil. In such a situation, weak-hearted cricket fans started considering the target of 387 runs as impossible. But India played such a game that everything became possible. India scored 387 runs for 4 wickets in just 98.3 overs and wrote a new history.
Sachin Tendulkar scored a century when India achieved the target of 387 runs. He played an innings of 103 runs on 196 balls and remained unbeaten till the end. Yuvraj Singh (85) also returned unbeaten with Sachin. But amidst these innings of Sachin and Yuvraj, how could Virender Sehwag's innings be forgotten, which had instilled confidence in India in victory. Sehwag had shattered the morale of the English bowlers by playing a stormy inning of 83 runs in 68 balls. Team India's current coach Gautam Gambhir had then played an inning of 66 runs.
FIRST PUBLISHED : October 26, 2024, 10:57 IST
