It’s always a risky proposition to wake up early in the morning to watch India play in New Zealand. Except for the one-day series in 1994, when Sachin opened the batting for the first time, it has generally been a story of disappointment. To wake up early on the second day of the first test with all the excitement of watching Sehwag tear the NZ attack apart ended in vain. I was just beginning to get a sense of Déjà vu.
But even before I could start regretting waking up so early, the sight of Rahul Dravid in his elements filled the heart with warmth. The return of the trademark classic square cut erased any doubts if Dravid had completely recovered from his form slump. That alone is worth every minute of lost sleep. Add that to the fact that Gambhir played a characteristically spunky innings and the day ending with Sachin priming up once the new ball was taken and promising plenty for the next day.
Surely to wake up early or not is not even a question for the third day. Anyone who saw Sachin’s backfoot punch to the covers to bring up his fifty the previous day would have felt something special was in store. And how special it turned out to be!
The day started with a gorgeous front foot cover-drive and was followed by an even better backfoot cover-drive. There was the “I’ll hit it even in my deep sleep” flick off the pads for a boundary and a brilliant square cut which had the sweeper cover struggling to cover hardly 10 yards of ground. Then there was a "flick of the wrist" straight drive (yes, you read it right!) followed by his signature straight drive without any follow through at all. And how about that tap over the slips and the civilized slog sweep! This innings had it all.
Today the poet’s son was composing a poem of a different genre that can’t be read but can only be felt… And if you didn’t feel it then you can only be an atheist!
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