February, 1992
The tour of Australia in 1991-2 was the worst of times for Indian cricket, all its inadequacies ruthlessly exposed by the home side. After being crushed at Brisbane and Melbourne, India glimpsed a false dawn at Sydney.

Ravi Shastri compiled a stodgy 206 and Sachin Tendulkar a breathtaking, unbeaten 148 as they pressed for victory. But try as they might, the hosts held on for the draw that ensured they wouldn't lose the series.

The same so-near-yet-so-far story was played out at Adelaide where, despite Mohammad Azharuddin's 24-carat century, they fell 39 runs short of a lifeline back into the five-Test rubber. Going into the final Test at Perth, pride was the only thing on the line.

India started well on a WACA pitch that had plenty of pace and bounce, reducing Australia to 21 for 2. But half centuries from Allan Border and Tom Moody supplemented a painstaking hundred from David Boon as Australia reached 346 midway through the second day. When Tendulkar walked out to join Sanjay Manjrekar at 4.32 pm, India were 69 for 2. He edged the first delivery he faced from Craig McDermott but it fell fortuitously short of slip. By stumps though, the top order had gone like straws in the wind and Tendulkar, on 31, had night-watchman Venkatapathy Raju with him.

Raju, Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar took the scenic route back to the pavilion early on the second day as India slumped to 159 for 8. Undaunted, Tendulkar played some superb strokes all around the wicket, none more magnificent than the cut shot on tiptoe when the bowlers dug in short. Kiran More provided gritty support as the runs started to flow.

Mike Whitney and Merv Hughes tried their best to unsettle Tendulkar but his poise and temperament were equal to everything. A beautifully struck boundary off McDermott took him to three figures and the crowd rose to acknowledge an innings of dazzling quality from the boy-man not yet 19. He added 81 runs before lunch but was out soon after, edging Whitney to second slip. His 114 (his third Test century) had taken him just 161 balls, including 16 hits to the fence, and as he trudged off, the clouds closed in on India. They went on to lose by 300 runs but 10 years on, any mention of Perth usually evokes a smile.

Tendulkar arrived in Australia with a reputation as the next batting genius and his performances at Sydney, and especially in Perth, embellished a legend that would acquire mythical proportions as the decade wore on.

Sachin Tendulkar is one of the nominees for the Electrolux Kelvinator Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century Award. His innings of 114 is one of the nominations for Batting Performance of the Century.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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