India vs. Pakistan: Mohali semi-final, Sachin Tendulkar awarded Man of the Match title - ICC World Cup 2011
India’s Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Man of the Match title on Wednesday, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 30, for his performance with the bat against arch rivals Pakistan, in the second semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2011 played in the Indian city of Mohali, Chandigarh.
Pakistan has never won a World Cup game against India. The teams have met five times now. Sachin, who has featured in all the five clashes against Pakistan in the World Cup said, “I will cherish all the five wins against Pakistan in World Cups lifelong.”
The Master Blaster also thanked the crowd in Mohali for their support and show of sportsmanship during the game. While talking about the playing conditions and planning of the Indian team, he admitted that he had a target of 300 to 310 in his mind but when the pitch slowed down in the later stages of the Indian innings he realized that a total somewhere near 270 would be a tough target to chase.
The prospects of Sachin’s century had created a hype regarding the clash as he was just one hundred away from scoring his 100th century in One Day Internationals. Fans in India had predicted that the ace batsman would reach this milestone by playing a phenomenal knock against Pakistan in Mohali.
However, Sachin was given a life four times by poor Pakistan fielding to make 85 runs on 115 deliveries. Pakistan were clearly eyeing to take his wicket but every time he made a mistake, the catch was dropped by the opposition. The way Pakistan were dropping Sachin's catches, at one point it seemed that he would succeed in reaching another hard earned century. Finally, it was the Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi’s low diving catch that got rid of Tendulkar off Saeed Ajmal's delivery.
Tendulkar was the highest scorer from his side while the rest of the batsmen just chipped in. Sachin’s opening partner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 was the second highest scorer with 38 runs, who hit eight boundaries, off 25 deliveries. Tendulkar hit 11 boundaries in his innings.
Last week, Pakistan’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was also quizzed by journalists about the potential milestone of the great batsman, on which the all-rounder rubbished the possibility of Sachin scoring his much awaited century against Pakistan. Afridi in a candid manner suggested that the Indian batsman will have to wait till the end of the World Cup to reach his century.
The Indian media gave Afridi’s comments about Tendulkar an ugly twist as to suggest that the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 skipper had disrespected and played down the ace batsman’s skills. However, a day before the match, Afridi in a press conference, clarified that he had not questioned Tendulkar’s greatness as a batsman. The Pakistan captain proclaimed that as the skipper of Pakistan he would never say that he would like Sachin to reach his 100th century while playing against his side.
India has not won the World Cup since Sachin has been a part of the national squad; this is the last chance for the Little Master to include his name in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s World Cup winning team because he will be retiring before the next cricket World Cup in 2015.
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