Bowler Sachin entertains Eden crowd

Kolkata: Sachin Tendulkar fans on Wednesday were left disappointed as they could not watch him bat on the opening day of his penultimate and 199th Test, but they had moments of celebration when he took a West Indian wicket here.

Die-hard Tendulkar fans would have loved to see him bat on the opening day of the first Test itself but they were left disappointed after India lost the toss. But they had something to cheer when a tricky delivery from Tendulkar deceived West Indies player Shane Shillingford and the whole stadium stood up to cheer the retiring senior batsman. Shouting `Sachin Sachin` on the top of their voices and vigorously waving the Indian tri-colour, a festive atmosphere engulfed the stadium all of a sudden as Shillingford was adjudged LBW off Tendulkar on five in the 63rd over at the Eden Gardens. This was his 46th Test wicket. In the two overs he bowled, Tendulkar gave only five runs, while grabbing a wicket. It was at the same venue Tendulkar had conceded just three runs in the last over in the Hero Cup semifinal in November 1993 to deny South Africa a win. Meanwhile, only half of the 70,000-seat capacity stadium were occupied today as West Indies batted first. Even after buying tickets, many people chose to wait for another day to see Tendulkar in action. "I came here to see Sachin batting for the last time in my life. But when he took the wicket, we all got very excited as we know he is also a good bowler and loves to contribute to the game in whatever capacity he can," said Sachin fan Sudhir Kumar who has cheered the cricketer many times on the field. As the Indian team ended the day with 37 for no loss in reply to West Indies` 234 all out, all eyes would be on Tendulkar tomorrow as he may get a chance to bat. CAB officials said they expect a full-house tomorrow.