A mouth watering prospect

It was on February 1, 2006 at the National Stadium in Karachi that the contest happened last time.

Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the best batsman to have ever played the game, was looking at a certain defeat in a test match. He was up against overcast skies, a bowler friendly pitch and 2 fired up pace bowlers. And his team needed more than 600 runs to win the match in under 2 days and had already lost 2 wickets. It was certain defeat. But Tendulkar was not willing to surrender. He was hit on the head by a fierce Shoaib Akhtar bouncer. But he responded with some scorching backfoot punches and a pull.

The bowler at the other end was Mohammed Asif. A young tall Pakistan pace bowler who was interested more in pitching the ball in the right areas and getting some movement. Rather odd. From the time Waqar Younis came along, every young Pakistani bowler wanted to bowl fast. Asif's partner at the other end was amongst the fastest bowlers of all time.

Tendulkar looked set for a big one, when against the run of play, Mohammed Asif got one to sneak through Tendulkar's defenses and crash into the off stump. The ball had kept low. Tendulkar was literally floored. The replays suggested that the bowler was trying to bowl a short one. The ball did not rise up. The seam was pointing towards the slips. But the ball landed on the seam and came back in.

'The great man brought to his knees', read a newspaper article.

Now Pakistan is coming to India in a couple of months to play 3 test matches. And we will see Asif bowling to Tendulkar.

What makes this contest so interesting?

Tendulkar has shown throughout his career a very strong desire to make a bold statement against bowlers who have gotten him out in embarassing ways. Any average Indian cricket fan would remember what happened to Henry Olonga, Shane Warne and Saqlain Mushtaq. In the one-day series that followed the test matches in Pakistan, at the same ground, Tendulkar thwarted Asif on a seaming pitch with brilliant ease.

Asif has grown by leaps and bounds in the past 15 months. He has become Pakistan's #1 bowler. He has travelled and bowled to batsmen like Kevin Pietersen and Jacques Kallis with much success. He now has the confidence, bordering on arrogance, of a man who knows he can get the best. He is considered by many (and I agree) to be the best young bowler in cricket.

Tendulkar, post world cup, has shown the consistency that had abandoned him since his return to cricket following his shoulder surgery. He is now comfortable playing a waiting game.

And the one thing common between the veteran and the rookie is that they are not going to take a backward step.

Waiting for November....