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Only a special effort could have stopped Sachin Tendulkar today. All the West Indies bowlers tried, but failed miserably. It was Darren Sammy’s brilliance in the field which stopped the Tendulkar show!

After Tendulkar’s dismissal, it was a positive display of batting by the duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, who operated just under five runs an over.

Earlier, it was a special morning for the entire world and the Wankhede Stadium as the great man, in sublime touch, enthralled the capacity crowd with his impressive strokeplay. He played all the shots in the book, and made run-making look so easy in the middle. Sweeps, drives, cuts, and you name it he played it.

India vs West Indies 2nd Test Live Score: Sachin Tendulkar enthralled the capacity crowd with his delightful strokeplay on Day 2. It was Darren Sammy’s brilliance at first slip which removed the Little Master for a well-made 74 (IE Photo Neeraj Priyadarshi)

No bowler posed any threat as the right-hander went about doing his business with utmost ease and grace. There was a little battle with Tino Best, but even Best’s best wasn’t enough. Those 74 runs he scored today, were a treat to watch!

Fall of Wickets

Sachin Tendulkar c Sammy b Deonarine (74): Deonarine bowled a flatter delivery outside off and Tendulkar, in an attempt to cut it fine, edged it to the first slip fielder Sammy, who took a blinder.

Sachin Tendulkar kept his emotions in check and showed his genius for one last time in front of adoring fans with an unbeaten 38 as India seized early control of his 200th and final cricket Test against the West Indies after a disciplined bowling display. Also read: Sachin comes to party

The 40-year-old maestro walked in to the middle amid thundering cheers from the crowd and a guard of honour from his West Indies rivals as he showed glimpses of his vintage form to remain unconquered at close of an eventful opening day of his last Test.

At stumps, India were comfortably placed at 157 for two after bundling out the hapless West Indies for a meagre 182 by tea, riding on left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha’s five-wicket haul.

While Ojha (5/40) grabbed the spotlight in the first half of the day, it was the retiring legend, who held centrestage in the last session with his entire family and childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar watching from the stands.

It was an abysmal batting display by the West Indians after being put in by Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The Caribbeans lost eight wickets for just 89 runs in a single session much to the delight of the Wankhede crowd.

Playing XI

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni (C)(W), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Pragyan Ojha

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin (W), Darren Sammy (C), Shane Shillingford, Tino Best, Shannon Gabriel.