"What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate. Cricket cannot lessen whatever happened... I hope this 100 will give some amount of happiness to the people,' Sachin Tendulkar had said after the 26/11 terror attacks
Bengaluru: India today (November 26) paid tributes to those who lost lives in the Mumbai terror attacks 11 years ago. The attacks by Pakistani terrorists lasted four days killing 166 people and injuring over 300.
As the nation remembered the sacrifices of the security personnel, it is worth revisiting the time when India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar dedicated a Test win to the victims of 26/11 attacks.
Also read: Nation remembers 26/11 terror attack victims
In December 2008, two weeks after the ghastly attacks on Mumbai, India played a Test match in Chennai, against England. The visitors had returned home after the terror attacks and came back to play the Tests.
It’s been 11 years, but we shall not forget the sacrifices of our brave police & armed forces. They took the fall to ensure the nation and humanity stands tall. My heart goes out to the families of all affected victims.
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)Chasing a record 387 for victory, Tendulkar brought up his 41st Test hundred and guided the team home on a tough pitch. He hit a boundary to seal the win. He remained unbeaten on 103 and Yuvraj Singh was at the other end undefeated on 85.
After the match, Tendulkar said on December 15, “If the team wins the 100 becomes very, very special, so this is right among my special centuries.”
“What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate. Cricket cannot lessen whatever happened... I hope this 100 will give some amount of happiness to the people,” Tendulkar said, who had a 163-run association with Yuvraj.
“I thank those who stood up to the terrorists and who made sure that they were captured or shot dead as the terrorists were many. I salute the NSG commandos, Taj hotel staff, police, public and everyone,” the right-handed batsman said at the time.
England fast bowler Steve Harmison, who played in that Chennai Test, recalled in his autobiography “Speed Demons” how Tendulkar was in tears after the win.
“The defeat in Chennai was the only Test loss in my career that I wasn’t massively bothered about. I’m not sure even a scriptwriter could have come up with what happened – Sachin Tendulkar, the great Indian hero, walking off having hit a hundred and the winning runs at the same time.
“He was in tears thanking us in the dressing room. What it meant to him, the great son of Mumbai was everything, and that’s why he was so grateful we’d gone back. It was like it was written in the stars that it should pan out like that. For him to come into our dressing room and thank us was very moving, very humbling,” Harmison wrote in his book.
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