Sachin is defying his age:wasim akram

Wasim Akram was stunned by Sachin Tendulkar’s 138-run knock at the Premadasa under energy-sapping conditions.

On Monday, Tendulkar was like old wine: classy, sweet and of course, a bit sweaty!

Perspiring from all sides on a sultry Colombo evening, the 36-year-old slammed his 44th one-day century to put India on course for a rather convincing 46-run victory against Sri Lanka. More than the win, Wasim Akram is flabbergasted by the Little Master’s ability to bat with the same panache, a 24-year-old would probably have done.

“He is improving with age. He is becoming greater with time. I don’t know when he will stop playing cricket. He is just amazing. At the end of his career, Sachin would set all the possible batting records,” Akram told Mobile ESPN in an exclusive interview from Lahore.

Tendulkar added 110-runs for 2nd wicket with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56) to set the ground ablaze with his classy strokeplay. Time stood still as Tendulkar smashed 10 fours and a six and still retained the hunger to put his feet on the gas.

Akram said, “It was Sachin’s knock that won the game for India. Sachin was superb in his strokeplay and even though there were useful contributions from Dravid, Dhoni and Yuvraj, it was a total Sachin show.”

It was the first time in his career that Tendulkar batted with a runner (Rahul Dravid) at the fag end of his innings. On a day when the humidity was close to 80 per cent, Tendulkar batted for 2 hours and 24 minutes, in an amazing demonstration of physical fitness.

“He must be super-duper fit, that’s for sure. To come with such a marathon knock in humid conditions is a job well done. It shows how well he has prepared his body even at this age. The youngsters must learn from him,” Akram said.

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