Twitter Reactions: Virender Sehwag and Sachin roll back the clock as India Legends kick-start the tournament with a win

Tendulkar and Sachin, as expected, took all the headlines on the day.

By Anuraag Peesara

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Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag
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Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The Wankhede stadium turned nostalgic on Saturday evening. The jam-packed stadium witnessed the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among many taking the field yet again. The result of the game mattered little but that didn’t stop these legends from playing some competitive cricket. In the end, it was India Legends who won the game courtesy a stunning effort from Sehwag.

Earlier, the West Indies got off to a brilliant start with Daren Ganga throwing the kitchen sink at the Indian bowlers, but his excitement was curbed soon by the brilliance of Zaheer Khan. Brian Lara, who was received with grandiose cheers by the Wankhede, set the mood with some vintage strokeplay, which included a sensational tonk coming down the wicket to Manpreet Gony. However, Irfan Pathan got the better of him and Sameer Dighe managed to complete the stumping.

Although they got to the 50-run mark inside 6 overs, the scoring rate slowed down once the field was spread out. Pragyan Ojha delivered a couple of wickets as well, which further deepened their woes. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, however, kept plugging in at the other end and completed a well-compiled half-century amidst some chaos.

One of the moments of the game came when Zaheer plucked a catch out of thin air at the backward square leg to dismiss Ricardo Powell. The West Indies barely got any boundaries towards the end and they settled with 150 runs on the board for the loss of 8 wickets. Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Pragyan Ojha picked up a brace each for the Indian side.

Sehwag’s half-century takes India over the line

Virender Sehwag rolled back the years with some magnificent shots off his first two deliveries, which predictably reached the boundary. As expected, the crowd reserved their energy to give the best reception to the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. The great man took a few deliveries to settle in but slowly got into his mojo. He smashed three boundaries off Sulieman Benn in a single over and the crowd was on its feet, chanting “Sachin, Sachin!” at the top of their voice.

Sehwag too smashed three boundaries in the next over as the required rate was kept well under control before the powerplay ended. Tendulkar was dismissed for a 29-ball 36, which finished an 83-run stand for the first wicket. Mohammad Kaif and Sehwag softly guided the side towards the winning mark, without taking many risks. Sehwag completed a well-compiled half-century in 47 deliveries.

It was Carl Hooper’s time now to roll the years back, who first dismissed Kaif and followed it up by cleaning up Manpreet Gony’s stumps. It seemed for a moment like the fans might not witness Yuvraj Singh on the day, but the 38-year-old had to come out and finish the game. He also smashed a big hit down the ground, which hit the windows of the press box.

Sehwag finished the game in the 19th over with a boundary over covers off Carl Hooper. Indian Legends won the game by 7 wickets and 10 deliveries to spare, with Sehwag remaining unbeaten on 74 off 57 cherries. Carl Hooper returned with the best figures for the Caribbeans, registering 2 wickets for 19 runs in his 3.2 overs.

Here’s what Twitterati had to say after a nostalgic strike at the Wankhede:

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