March 9, 1998. Chennai.

The stage was set for the mega battle within the India-Australia Test match. Shane Warne ambled in to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar in a tussle for supremacy, a fight that would determine the outcome of the Test match and decide the balance of future skirmishes across the next decade.

The leggie started over the wicket, turning the ball as viciously as ever. The master unfurled his imperious square cut, twice in succession — the ball thudding into the advertisement hoarding each time.

Then there were the pulls . A slight error in length saw Tendulkar go back, swivel and heave it to the mid-wicket.

Mark Taylor resorted to pace, but the faster fare did not check the flow of runs..

After lunch, Warne was back, resorting to the tactics that had brought him immense success around the globe. Operating from round the wicket, he targeted the rough around the leg stump — the very manoeuvre that made him a deadly proposition. .

Tendulkar responded with a cross batted pull-drive, played from outside the off-stump to the widish mid-wicket fence. It was followed by a sweep-pull that landed in the crowd

The stadium went crazy. The confusion on Warne’s face was all too visible. He was rattled. No one had ever treated him this way.

Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 155 that day, a blistering knock with 14 fours and 4 sixes that set up a quick declaration and an eventual Indian win.

As he walked back to standing ovation, the Australians applauded him all the way. It still stands as one of his greatest innings, one that conquered the wizardry of Warne and changed the complexion of the match with sheer brilliance of the willow.

The leg spinner finished with figures of 30-7-122-1.

Text: Arunabha Sengupta

Illustration: Maha