Against a persistent Australian attack, Sachin Tendulkar made an unbeaten 241*, on 5 January 2004 at the SCG, an innings of 241 runs from 436 balls, including 33 fours, no sixes, at a strike rate of 55.27. It was an innings defined as much by what he refused to play as by what he scored.
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Having been dismissed more than once outside off stump, he chose to shelve the cover drive altogether. With Australia maintaining that line, he responded by leaving consistently, refusing to be drawn into the stroke again.
The cover drive, usually such a reliable feature of his game, was largely absent. Not through any visible limitation, but by clear intent. He chose instead to leave outside off stump deliveries with discipline that rarely wavered.
What followed was an extended exercise in control. Tendulkar absorbed pressure, resisted the drive through the covers, and built his innings steadily over more than ten hours at the crease. Australia were left probing without finding a way through.
It was not dominance in the conventional sense, but it was control throughout, achieved through restraint rather than risk, from one of the game’s greats.
Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images
