MUMBAI, India, CMC – West Indies seamer Ravi Rampaul said yesterday he and head coach Ottis Gibson had carefully plotted the demise of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The Indian master batsman seemed headed towards an historic milestone of 100 international centuries on the fourth day of the third Test when he nicked a delivery from Rampaul to captain Darren Sammy at second slip, to fall for 94.
“Leading up to this morning, the coach and I had a chat during warm-ups about how I was going to bowl at him (Tendulkar),” Rampaul revealed.
“We discussed it and we felt the best way was to get close to the wicket and angle the ball away from him and look to get the nick taken in the slips.
“It feels really good that it worked that way. The ball before bounced a bit and you could see he seemed a little worried. He was batting out of his crease to get the ball a little fuller. I realised that and altered my length.
“It was just the right ball at the right time. The atmosphere was huge and there was lot of crowd support for him. It was a big moment. He is a big wicket.”
Tendulkar started the day unbeaten on 67 and gathered his runs in quick time with a series of audacious strokes.
Untroubled by the West Indies attack, his century seemed a mere formality until his moment of indiscretion, attempting to guide Rampaul behind square.
Rampaul paid the price for his success as he was jeered by the partisan Indian fans when he returned to his fielding position after the over.
“It was a big wicket, not just because we denied him the landmark but also because we were looking for early wickets to stay ahead in the game. There is still a Test match going on and we were not just focussing on Sachin, but the overall picture,” Rampaul said.
“I got that (jeers) as soon as Sachin went. I went back to the boundary and all that time I was heckled. That’s life, you know.
A lot of fans had their hearts broken but we can’t just let him (Tendulkar) go there and let him live freely. It’s a Test match and we are fighting hard to win. We have a job to do.”
West Indies, who piled up 590 in their first innings, were batted out of the game, however, by Ravi Ashwin who smashed a daring 103 to lift India up to 482 all out.
At the close, the Windies were 81 for two in their second innings, an overall lead of 189.