They say the best things in the world come in twos. And if you're a legend, you make them extra special. You make your birthday worth remembering, not just for yourself, but for an entire nation of one billion people.
Two days earlier, Tendulkar had scored 143 of the most devastating runs he had ever made, amidst a swirling dust storm in Sharjah against Australia. In the process, he took India to the finals but not (yet) to victory.
But there was unfinished business. And this time on his birthday, on April 24, 1998, Tendulkar ensured there would be no so-near-and-yet-so-far. If the 143 exuded devastation and havoc, this one started off more classically. A flourish of cover drives, the bat moving like a rapier, head dead still, the ball speeding to the ropes. A few delicate dabs to the fine-leg boundary.
Yet again, Shane Warne was taken to the cleaners. Once he had settled in, the Little Master was not in a mood to take any prisoners. Michael Kasprowicz tried to have a word with him but was dispatched, straight as you like, to the roof of the stadium.
This time, Tendulkar scored 134 off 131 balls. And India won the match and the tournament. Two days earlier, no one would have thought that that 143 would be bettered. On his birthday, though, Sachin Tendulkar demonstrated that he had a canny sense for the occasion.
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