Mumbai: The unthinkable happened on Sunday -- Sachin Tendulkar was booed by cricket fans in his home ground and in a Test match that is a landmark in his illustrious career.
Anguish writ large on his face, his eyes downcast, the batting legend walked back to the Indian dressing room at the Wankhede Stadium after yet another failure out in the middle.
Loud boos resounded in the packed stadium from the very fans who for years have treated him like a demi-God. "Tendulkar is like a God in India," Australian opener Matthew Hayden had written five years ago.
In this Test match, his 132nd, Tendulkar became the most capped Indian player in history. It was a special occasion but he had nothing special to offer.
In the last six Test matches, Tendulkar has averaged 18.66, having aggregated 112 runs in six innings.
The Mumbai batsman has scores of 14, 23, 26, 16, 28 not out, 4 and one in his last six Test outings.
Tendulkar, who was felicitated by the Board for Control of Cricket in India in front of an appreciative audience yesterday for becoming the most capped Indian Test player, must have been rattled to hear jeers emanating from the same stadium.
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It was the first time ever that the Wankhede Stadium crowd had booed the world Test ton record holder, who had scored a century in the opening first class match of his career on this very ground 17 years ago.
In the Indian first innings on Sunday, he occupied the crease for over half an hour after coming to the crease at the fall of the second wicket (Wasim Jaffer) on 24.
He resisted the temptation to go for his shots before a wide ball from Anderson lured him into a drive that he essayed without moving his feet at all.
His soft dismissal, combined with those of openers Virender Sehwag (6) and Wasim Jaffer (11), clearly upset the huge holiday crowd of over 35,000.
Another legend from Mumbai, Sunil Gavaskar, too had been booed off the field by the Wankhede crowd in his last international innings against England in the 1987 World Cup semi-final after he fell cheaply to England swing bowler Philip Defreitas.
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