Tendulkar was authoritative

It is not often that we, the West Indians, play against Sachin Tendulkar. I remember, he came here in 1997, and though he had some decent scores, there were not one of those big hundreds from the little man.

Earlier, in 1994 when we toured India, Tendulkar was impressive without quite being the dominating batsman he is known the world over these days.

Here, at the Bourda Oval, the little master played a very authoritative innings. He was very severe on our fast bowlers though I must say we didn't bowl that well to him as well. I was very upset when a chance off him was not availed a delivery before he was dismissed. Still, he gave every evidence of why he is regarded as the best batsman in the world. Well, one of the two best batsmen of the world, anyway.

Invariably, the topic in this series has veered towards the Tendulkar-Lara confrontation. It's a kind of match-up which even I am waiting to unfold. Both are devastating batsmen but there is a difference.

Tendulkar is very compact and as in attack, his defence is very strong too. Lara, on the other hand, is very attacking from the word go and that's why he has played a few more devastating innings than Tendulkar has, perhaps, in his career.

I know people point to how many matches Lara has won on his own while Tendulkar has struggled in this area. If he is trying to make up, I hope he doesn't do it in this series.

Is Tendulkar a better batsman than even Sir Viv Richards? Well, I am going to disappoint my Indian readers on this count. I think Richards was the most destructive batsman of my era.

When you judge it, you also have to think the kind of opposition bowling Richards played in his time. There were Len Pascoe, Jeff Thomson, Dennis Lillee in Australia, Richard Hadlee in New Zealand, Imran Khan in Pakistan and Kapil Dev in India, not to forget Bob Willis and Ian Botham in England.

World bowling in those days was very strong. Yet, Richards just not scored runs off them. He mastered them. Tendulkar, of course, can't pick the bowlers for others but even though his record is formidable, the quality of bowling in the world at present is not what it used to be.

Ask me, I, as captain of the West Indies team, am personally experiencing the difference of quality among bowlers of today from those of the past!

Rahul Dravid made a very pleasing hundred but I must say our bowlers gave him a lot of half volleys which he was good enough to despatch to the straight boundary. He has a very solid influence in the Indian line-up. I liked his courage and commitment to the team after being hit on the face by Mervyn Dillon.

The third century in this match was made by Shivnaraine Chanderpaul. Again, a fellow-Guyanese like me, Chanderpaul hasn't done enough justice to his talent. He also has been injured. He has made a good start in this series, which is good because we the seniors must show juniors the way forward. He played a lot straighter and less across in this innings and it seems the conditioning camp in Trinidad before the series, where Sir Garfield Sobers came and gave us his advice, has been of help.

Lastly, about me. I made a dream come true with a double hundred for myself. I am unfailingly asked by everyone the reason why I am batting so well these days compared to the first 80 Tests of my career. It is said I was careless, didn't value my wicket and let down my team.

I was never careless, but may be I am more mature now. I was never flippant but with my languid style, I might have appeared casual to onlookers.

I disagree with it. Yes, I am playing less across these days and perhaps there is a better shot selection but I never took my cricket lightly.

Yes, practice of my Christianity has brought a new serenity in my life. But I was born Christian and always was religious-minded, but the way things have gone in the last two years, mostly positive, I am turning more and more towards God. When I bat in the middle, I feel as if God is there batting it out for me. It composes me, stabilises me and focuses me in the crease.

Hopefully, I would be able to bat in a similar vein in coming weeks and for the rest of my career.

Mail Cricket Editor