Free Playing It My Way: My Autobiography by Sachin Tendulkar Page B

second Test at Old Trafford a week later to remain alive in the series.
Second Test, Old Trafford, 9–14 August 1990
    In the first innings at Old Trafford, England once again put together a total of more than 500, with centuries from Gooch and Mike Atherton, and we simply had to get as close to their score as possible in our reply. We were due to bat fourth in the match and any total in excess of 250 would be difficult to chase down on a wearing pitch. Azhar made another hundred and almost everyone in the top order contributed to our first-innings effort. Had the lower middle order scored runs, we may have got closer to the English total and even managed a first-innings lead. It might also have given me an opportunity to go for my maiden hundred. But they got out in quick succession and I ran out of partners. I went in to bat at number six with the team score on 246 and was last man out for 68, trying to play a big shot off Eddie Hemmings. As Hirwani would I am sure agree, he was not the best number eleven in the world. I felt I had to go for my shots sooner rather than later and I holed out to Chris Lewis at deep midwicket as a result.
    Hirwani was always fun to bat with and when he came in he said to me at the wicket that he would be fine as long as the balls were pitched up. He said he had a problem facing bouncers and I assured him that the English bowlers would not bowl bouncers at him because he wasn’t a recognized batsman. He managed to bat on for a while and gradually gained in confidence. So much so that he suddenly charged out to Chris Lewis to give the ball a real whack. Chris’s expression said it all. He did not take kindly to a number-eleven batsman giving him the charge. He was fuming as he walked back to his bowling mark and a bouncer was now inevitable. However, in charging out Hirwani had somehow broken his bat and it took a bit of time to get a replacement from the dressing room. Luckily, the few minutes that were lost in the bat change had a calming effect on Chris Lewis and Hirwani survived his innings unscathed.
    We were finally all out for 432, conceding an 87-run first-innings lead. It was evident that England would want to score quickly and set us a target. Allan Lamb made a hundred in the England second innings and on the final day they declared on 320–4, leaving us ninety-two overs to bat out. The English attack, consisting of Angus Fraser, Chris Lewis, Devon Malcolm and Eddie Hemmings, had some variety, and while the fast bowlers used the cloud cover to good effect, Hemmings extracted considerable purchase from the fifth-day track. With all the bowlers performing at their best, we were soon reduced to 109–4. Then Azhar fell with the score on 127 and Kapil Dev was yorked by Eddie Hemmings, leaving us at a perilous 183–6.
My first Test hundred
    When Manoj Prabhakar joined me in the middle we badly needed a partnership to save the game. I had been lucky at the start of my innings, with Eddie Hemmings dropping me when I had tried to play an on drive. The ball had hit the outside part of my bat and spooned back to Hemmings, who failed to hold on to it. I learnt my lesson and decided not to play any more uppish strokes. At the same time I was determined to play some shots and not go into my shell. Getting ultra-defensive would allow the English bowlers to put more and more fielders round the bat, and by trying to score I would be able to keep the field spread out. Every time I got a chance to score runs, I did so. Most of my scoring strokes were in the nature of punches played with minimum risk. The balance between aggression and caution was crucial and I was trying to focus on each and every ball. My fifty came up but it did not excite me. The match was far from saved and that was the goal.
    At the other end, Manoj Prabhakar was playing well and after a while it was clear we had succeeded in frustrating the English bowlers. The first task had been accomplished. When trying to save a match, the