In terms of opposition, Kenya may seem to be one of the weaker ones around . However, it was the enormity of context that made the century so special for the side that it was worth its weight in gold.
In the end, it also led India to a rather easy win over the minnows of the cricketing world, the Kenyans.
The 1999 World Cup had seen India lose their very first game to South Africa, and just before their second game against Zimbabwe, Tendulkar received the news that his father, Mr. Ramesh Tendulkar, was no more and had to return back to India for the last rites.
Without Tendulkar in their ranks, India went into the game without any ammunition and collapsed to a side not really known to perform well in such big tournaments – Zimbabwe – and lost their second successive game. Their fate held in balance, as the chances of crashing out of the tournament before the start of the second round loomed large.
A visibly shaken up Tendulkar then made a return to the tournament, in England ack from India, and later said that his mother had told him to go back to play for the country because that is what his father would have wanted had he been alive.
The Kenya game was his first match and he came on to bat at India being 92/2 in the 21st over. From then on, a grieving Tendulkar played a masterful knock. Almost like in the Bollywood movies, India’s hero had come back, and there was no-one who could stop the side from winning.
He kept smashing the ball throughout the park, but what stood out in the innings was his ability to deftly edge and nudge away the balls to the boundary, much to the chagrin of the bowlers.
In the end, he added 237 runs for the third wicket with Rahul Dravid, scoring 140 of the best runs in 101 balls to remain unbeaten and guide India to a memorable win. India’s campaign was well and truly running from there and they went on to enter the second round in the tournament.
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