How to Score a Century?

The Little Master is the best person to answer this question as he is exponent of the art. Today he may have nearly 100 centuries in all forms of the game, but his first century in the ODI’s came only after 78 matches and 5 years of international cricket. Phew… Quiet a wait isn’t?

It was not only a painful wait for the master but to his diehard fans too. To be honest, people really started pondering if this man could ever score a century in ODI? Thankfully the master silenced the critics and kept the hopes alive of every cricket lover by scoring his First Century at Premadasa Stadium, Colombo in the Singer Cup on Sep 9, 1994 against Australia. For the records, that century came up in a do or die encounter and it also helped India to win the game. Just in case if somebody doubt Tendulkar is a match winner or Tendulkar centuries jinxed?

In reality, the wait of one man benefitted the entire generation of cricketers followed him. All those Dravids, Gangulys, Sehwags, Yuvrajs, Dhonis and even the latest era cricketers including Suresh Rainas, Rohit Sharmas, Virat Kohlis who are yet to cement a place in the side have nearly 4 or 5 centuries to their kitties at a very early age of their career. Mind you, before Tendulkar there was hardly any cricketer from India with 5 centuries to their name in ODI’s. Even Azhar and Siddhu added few more centuries only after Tendulkar regime.

Can’t stop admiring what one man did to the generation of cricketers? After 5 years of hard work he found the secret and in no time he passed the knowledge to his colleagues and successors so as they that don’t pass thru the same agony he went thru.

The Big Secret

Oh yeah… you thought in my private conversation with Tendulkar he shared this big secret to me which I’m going to share with you now? Come on guys, I hardly know Tendulkar as good as you.

But let me share the little secret I know about scoring a century. Somebody passed this to me during my early days and it worked well for me. Now I go about passing the baton to you.

The no. of singles that you score in the game gives a good idea of how near or how far are you from your century. You don’t have to count your twos or fours or sixes but counting your singles is a must at all times.

By the time you finish up your first 10 singles, you would have scored few doubles, possibly an odd boundary or two (mercy of loose deliveries) and eventually batted for about 5 to 6 overs.  By now, your scores should be anywhere around 20 to 25 runs. Also you would have run for your partner and at this time those early butterflies will be out of your stomach. Most importantly your feet would start moving well while eyes start sighting the ball better.

During your first cycle prefer to play nudges, flicks and glance over cuts and pulls. Play mostly on the front of the wicket showing full face of the bat to the bowler. At the end of the first cycle, you should feel positive in attempting few more stroke plays. Keep repeating this cycle as long as you can.

Bottomline: By the time you finish your third cycle you are either completed or anywhere close to your century.

Dinesh

Cricket Lover

PS: Did you ever wonder why there is Dravid’s photo instead of Tendulkar's in this article? Just a humble attempt to honor the statesman for completing 15 years of International Cricket. It's only irony that this post also happened to be 100th post at Crazy Cricket Lover.