Are West Indies worthy of Sachin's hundredth ton?

Every time Sachin Tendulkar steps out to bat, we expect him to score a century. And that’s what we expected him to do in England as well. Four Tests against a worthy opposition, tons of experience in the conditions, a strong support cast, the lure of Lord’s—Sachin had everything going for him. There was history too. It was such a given that a Cola company even came up with special cans to mark the occasion — which sadly never came along. We waited and we waited and we waited but despite good starts, Sachin never made it. By the end, the disasters India experienced on the tour combined to make the record or the lack of it rather irrelevant. Now, once again, all sights are on the master. For a couple of days, the questions in the press conference have centered on the record. One of the reasons for that is that India are all full strength in the batting department and West Indies just don’t have the bowlers to counter these giants of modern cricket in their own den. [caption id=“attachment_124592” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Sachin at the next ahead of the test against West Indies. PTI”] [/caption] Only four players — Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Denesh Ramdin and Marlon Samuels — have played more than 20 matches while Tendulkar alone has played 181 Tests. Dravid has played another 157 Tests and Laxman has waltzed through another 127. The disparity is huge and very visible. The West Indian attack won’t even have the presence of helpful conditions to aid them. In this scenario, it almost seems a given that Tendulkar will get to his coveted 100th ton. It’s almost going to be like taking an ice-cream from a child. There will be some crying but other than noise, it’s going to achieve little. There will be no stopping the master batsman. This isn’t arrogance, it’s reality and it’s cruel. Perhaps as cruel as the thumping India received in England. This series will have a Ranji Trophy feel to it and perhaps it isn’t a coincidence that the start is in sync with the beginning of India’s domestic calendar. There was a time when the West Indies were feared and liked in equal measure — feared because they played a brand of cricket that showed no mercy and liked for precisely that same reason. The world likes its champions and sadly, the current West Indies team is anything but that. So, it almost seems like a pity that Tendulkar will score his 100th ton against them — for, in their current avatar, they are not worthy. They are not worthy of a record that will stand the test of time; they are not worthy of playing a game that they scarcely remember how to play; they are not worthy of history. Tendulkar will take it — he has been stuck on 99 tons since the ODI World Cup when he hit two centuries, against England and South Africa. So the sooner he gets it out of his system the better. And when it happens, we will applaud — the moment and the man and wish that the ton had come against Australia or England or South Africa. That way, it would just be so much more special.