When Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the crease at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 2nd Jan 2004, one of the best batsmen in the world found himself in a rather unfamiliar situation. He was going through a lean patch. This was the fourth test; the series was tied at 1-1. In the previous three tests, his scores were 0, 1, 37, 0, and 44. In almost all the innings, he had got out driving on the offside. The night before, Sachin spoke to his brother Ajit Tendulkar, like he did for every day of his cricketing career. Ajit told him, “You know, no one is getting you out. Your shot selection is getting you out.” That’s when Sachin decided to throw a challenge to himself and told his brother, “I’m not going to get out in this test match.” Ajit smiled and said, “I don’t think anyone can get you out if you look after your shot selection.” When Sachin Tendulkar went out to bat, he decided he would not drive on the offside, no matter how much the temptation. The Australians kept bowling on the corridor outside the off, and he refused to drive. He recollects in a later interview that he told himself, “You can keep bowling there if you want to. I am not going to drive. You bowl to me, and then I’ll bat,” In a colossal display of restraint and concentration, Sachin scored 241 runs, not out, and India declared at 705/7. This was Sachin’s highest score to date. In an innings that lasted 10 hours and 436 balls, Sachin Tendulkar never played a single cover drive. To understand how different this was from his regular batting. Look at the two wagon wheels. (PICTURE NEEDS TO BE INSERTED HERE). These wagon wheels are with all the boundaries. One on the left is from this innings at the SCG, and the one on the right, 11 Months later at Dhaka. Similar scores, a similar number of fours, but a very different wagon wheel. There can be only one word for this, discipline. Steve Waugh remembers this match very well. In an interview after Steve retired from test cricket, he said, “We tried everything and failed. And when Sachin scored his double ton, I was sure he would now play that cover drive. But he just didn’t. What restraint!” Sachin was not out in the second innings as well. He scored 60, and he won the challenge he had set for himself. Business Points ( Tags ) #discipline #fortitude #Adapt #adaptation #character
