Sachin Tendulkar: The Master Of Desert Storm in Sharjah

An attack on Australian bowling was unleashed in Sharjah on this day, 1998, by Tendulkar’s “Desert Storm.”

To millions who tuned in to watch one of the greatest batters in the world, the ‘Desert Storm’ of April 22, 1998, was immortalized as such.

India’s capital, New Delhi, is currently experiencing a heatwave. In 1998, Sachin Tendulkar unleashed the “Desert Storm” on Australia’s deadly bowling attack, which included Shane Warne, Michael Kasprowicz, and Damien Fleming.

“Squalls in Sharjah! On this date in 1998, Sachin Tendulkar scored a record-breaking 143 against Australia in a one-off match “ICC sent out a tweet about it.

An India, Australia, and New Zealand triangular series called the Coca-Cola Cup featured the game. Neither India nor New Zealand had won any of their previous games, and both teams appeared to be out of the tournament, relying solely on net run rate as their only hope. After winning all three of their matches, Australia qualified for the finals.

The match was critical for India, as a win would ensure that they would face Australia in the final if they were victorious. The net run rate could have spelled doom for the Men in Blue’s chances of winning the championship if they were to lose.

The Australians elected to bat first and put up an impressive 284-7 in their 50 overs. Adam Gilchrist was dismissed for 11 at 17 to Harvinder Singh, a medium-pacer, in the first over of the match for Australia. Waugh made a solid 81 before falling to Tendulkar with an assist from Ganguly’s hands for a four-wicket haul in the 32nd over at the score of 177 as the fourth wicket, while Ponting was dismissed for 31 in the 14th over at the score of 84.

Finisher Michael Bevan, with the help of Darren Lehmann (26), pushed Australia to 284-7 in 50 overs with an unbeaten 101, which included nine fours. In eight overs, Venkatesh Prasad was India’s best bowler, taking 2/41. Sachin Tendulkar took two wickets while Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh each took one.

Saurav Ganguly was dismissed for 17 in the ninth over of India’s innings as they were chasing a target of 285. Sachin Tendulkar and Nayan Mongia anchored the innings before Mongia was dismissed for 35 in the 22nd over of the match, when the score was 107, to leave the game in the balance. A sharp-shooting Tendulkar went after every Australian bowler one by one. Indian efforts were disrupted for around 25 minutes, with the revised target of 276 in 46 overs being set.

Sachin, on the other hand, unleashed a storm of his own that threatened to wipe out Australia’s chances of winning the match. Everyone was killed. 24 years after the fact, millions of people remember the sixes that Michael Kasprowicz took. The match was also a chance for the Master to face off against Shane Warne, the late legendary leg-spinner, with the batter winning this time around.

In the midst of India’s 242/4 in 42.5 overs, Tendulkar looked unstoppable, with just 34 runs to spare and a victory in sight for India. With India needing 34 off 18 balls, pacer Damien Fleming pulled off a miracle by dismissing Tendulkar with the final ball of the over. Tendulkar returned to the pavilion with a 143 off 131 balls, including 9 fours and 5 sixes. He was the match’s highest scorer.

As a result, the Indian batsmen, Ajay Jadeja (0), VVS Laxman (23*), and Hrishikesh Kanitkar (5*) were all out for just 8 runs in the next three overs to leave the team at 250/5, which meant that India had lost by 26 runs.

It was Tendulkar, who has been hailed as a deity by millions of cricket fans, who triumphed over the odds on this day. Because of his 143 off 131 to boost India’s net run rate, the Kiwis, as New Zealanders are known, had no chance to compete with Australia for the Coca-Cola Trophy if Australia could sweep the points table with four consecutive victories. India qualified for the finals of the competition thanks to an increase in their net run rate.

Tendulkar celebrated his 25th birthday on April 24th, the day of the final. In their 50 overs, Australia scored 272/9 runs to win the match. On his birthday, Sachin Tendulkar smashed 134 off 131 balls to help India reach the target in 48.3 overs and win the Coca-Cola Cup.

To millions who tuned in to watch one of the greatest batters in the world, the ‘Desert Storm’ of April 22, 1998, was immortalized as such. On this day, Sachin’s shots and the commentary that accompanied them were both immortalized and still resonate in the ears of cricket fans. Tendulkar, a Mumbai teen, became a symbol of hope because of innings like these. When Tendulkar walked out to bat, millions of televisions turned on, and millions more turned off when he was dismissed before leading India to victory. Batter Virat Kohli carried billions of dollars in hopes on his back when India won the 50-over Cricket World Cup in 2011 after 28 overs with a victory over Sri Lanka.