Sachin Tendulkar 89 of 42 - The innings which changed the future of ODI Cricket

March 27, 1994. Sachin Tendulkar 89 of 42 balls in Auckland, New Zealand.

If ever there was a single event which changed the future of the ODI Cricket world, this was it.

We have had many events which have distinctly shaped the future of Cricket.

In 1992, Mark Greatbatch of New Zealand shook the world in the Cricket world cup with his explosive hitting at the top of the innings.

In 1996, Sanath Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana shocked the work with their consistent pinch hitting. Sri Lanka even went to win the 1996 ICC Cricket world cup before the other countries could react to the surprise thrown at them.

Sachin's back to back centuries in Sharjah in 1998 catapulted his Cricket and the nations Cricket Interest to a whole new level.

In 1983, India won world cup against all odds in 1983 and sealed India's fate as a Cricket crazy nation.

However, if there was a day, if there was an innings, which scripted a different future for the entire ODI cricket world, this was it.

Sachin in 1994 vs New Zealand

Sachin opened the innings for the first time in his career. In an innings which lasted just 22 scoring shots, he won the match and announced his arrival as a Opening batsman.

The image of Sachin dancing down the track with disdain for the bowlers even as they were still completing the delivery stride still remains in the mind of the people who watched the game live.

The impact of the innings was at various levels. 

a) With Sachin as opener, every stadium was full (sometimes a full 3 hours before the start of the match) and every ODI was watched by millions around the world on TV.

b) Later that year, he scored his first ODI hundred (after 78 ODIs!) and then went on to score Century of Centuries 

c) The opener's spot remained his for the next 2 decades except for a brief period in 2003.

d) With his explosive batting at the top of the innings, Millions tuned in to watch Sachin open the innings and tuned out when Sachin got out.

There are many questions which we can ponder retrospectively.

a) Would one day cricket become so popular (at the expense of Test cricket even) in India had Sachin stayed as a middle/lower order batsmen in ODI? 

b) Would Sachin reached the magical mark of a Century of Centuries as a middle/lower order batsman?

c) Would we have reached the Semi-Finals of the 1996 World Cup, the finals in the 2003 World cup?

d) As a nation would we have become this this Cricket Crazy?

I leave it to you to answer.