IPL 2021: Of Sharjah and Sachin Tendulkar’s Desert Storm!

The
IPL
2021
which
resumed
in
the
UAE
on
Sunday
(September
19)
will
have
its
first
match
in
Sharjah
on
Friday
(September
24)
when
the
Virat
Kolhli-led
Royal
Challengers
Bangalore
take
on
the
Mahendra
Singh
Dhoni-captained
Chennai
Super
Kings
in
what
is
literally
the
Southern
Derby
.

Unlike
the
Abu
Dhabi
and
Dubai
wickets,
Sharjah
is
traditionally
meant
to
be
a
batsman’s
paradise,
ever
since
Tendulkar’s
onslaught
on
a
famed
Australian
pace
attack
in
a
tri-series
also
featuring
New
Zealand
23
years
ago.

IPL
2021:
Sharjah
Cricket
Stadium:
Pitch,
weather
reports,
T20,
IPL
records

The
Mumbai
maestro’s
back-to-back
hundreds
which
pummeled
Australia
into
submission
at
Sharjah
is
very
much
part
of
the
cricket
lore.

It
is
precisely
because
of
those
twin
tons
that
crowd
started
flocking
to
the
Sharjah
stadium
in
large
numbers.

Desert
Storm:
When
Tendulkar’s
knock
vanquished
mighty
Australians
in
Sharjah

First,
in
the
do-or-die
last
round-robin
tie
against
Australia,
Tendulkar
made
a
breathtaking
143
which
took
India
to
the
finals.

That
innings
by
Tendulkar
is
still
considered
as
one
of
best
knocks
in
One-day
International
history.

Batting
first,
Australia
had
scored
284
for
seven,
thanks
largely
to
Michael
Bevan’s
101.

The
target
was
adjusted
to
276
for
India
from
46
overs
due
to
a
sandstorm.
In
reply,
India
lost
Sourav
Ganguly
(17)
in
the
ninth
over.

Tendulkar
then
found
some
support
in
Nayan
Mongia
(35)
and
Mohammad
Azharuddin
(14),
before
carrying
the
entire
Indian
chase
on
his
young
shoulders.
The
Master
Blaster
went
on
to
make
143
and
after
his
dismissal,
though
India
was
not
able
to
chase
down
the
target,
it
was
enough
to
make
it
to
the
finals.

Two
days
later,
at
the
same
venue,
India
played
Australia
in
the
finals
and
it
was
yet
another
memorable
knock
from
Tendulkar
that
helped
the
Men
in
Blue
clinch
the
title.

Chasing
273
this
time,
Tendulkar
made
134
runs
to
help
India
win
by
six
wickets.

Since
those
two
memorable
hundreds,
everytime
a
match
happens
at
Sharjah,
Tendulkar’s
desert
storm
comes
to
the
mind
of
cricket
lovers.

IPL
POINTS
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RESULTS/FIXTURES

The
little
master,
who
is
now
the
mentor
of
Mumbai
Indians,
will
be
back
in
Sharjah
on
October
2
when
the
Rohit
Sharma-led
franchise
takes
on
Rishabh
Pant-captained
Delhi
Capitals
in
Match
46
of
IPL
2021.

Twenty
three
years
down
the
line,
the
chants
of
Sachin..
Sachin
may
still
reverberate
all
over
the
Sharjah
Cricket
stadium
then!