March 29, 2004 – When Rahul Dravid declared with Sachin Tendulkar on 194

29th March 2004 was a historic day for India as Virender Sehwag became the first Indian to smash a triple century in Test cricket when they faced Pakistan in Multan. The knock was so special that it overshadowed another marathon innings from Sachin Tendulkar who nearly got to a double century. But India’s stand-in captain Rahul Dravid’s declaration leaving Tendulkar on 194 raised numerous questions to the fans and media. Even 14 years after this event, the doubts and remarks over it remain the same.

At the Tea break on the 2nd day, India were 588/4 with Sachin Tendulkar unbeaten on 165 along with Yuvraj Singh (11*). Tendulkar had about 15 overs to get to his 200-run mark as India wanted to Pakistan bat towards the end of the day’s play. Post the Tea break, Sachin did score at a good pace as he added 29 runs in 35 balls in the final session. Ramesh Powar came with a message just a little before the drinks break. Yuvraj departed on the 5th ball of the same over after farming the strike.

Soon at the stroke of Yuvraj’s wicket, Dravid declared their innings at 675/5. India couldn’t take a wicket on the 2nd day but managed to restrict the hosts to 407 in the first innings and take a 268-run lead. India enforced the following-on over the Pakistan team and bowled them out for 216 in the 2nd innings to register an innings and 52-run win. Irfan Pathan took a 4-wicket haul in the first innings while Anil Kumble took a 6-fer.

Sachin Tendulkar’s version:

Post the declaration that left him stranded on 194, Tendulkar felt he was let down. He assumed he had 12 balls to score the remaining six runs for his 200 just Powar arrived with his final message saying that it will be last over of India‘s innings. Unfortunately, Yuvraj blocked three of the first four balls he played in the over bowled by Imran Farhat and gave a return catch to the part-timer. Coach John Wright and the Indian captain Sourav Ganguly who was out of the game due to injury informed that it was Dravid’s own decision.

Rahul Dravid’s version:

The stand-in Indian captain confirmed that it was his call to declare at that point with his team’s interests in mind. Dravid wanted Pakistan to bat in the final hour and didn’t like to change his plans with the approaching milestone of Tendulkar. Both the players resolved the issue between themselves quickly and went on to stitch many useful contributions to the country. Tendulkar’s celebrations after getting Moin Khan’s wicket at end of the 3rd day mattered the most for Dravid.

John Wright’s version:

The Indian head coach at that time, John Wright who had the neutral side, mentioned in his book “Indian Summers”. According to him, Tendulkar could have rushed a bit early and did not complicated the things. Wright also felt he should have convinced Rahul Dravid to declare when Sachin was in 160s at Tea. However, Wright said that he was happy to see how Sachin and Dravid sorted out among themselves before the things got out of hand.