Diary
Sachin wicket was a great moment
By Danish Kaneria
Dec 6, 2007, 12:43

The India tour has so far been a great experience for me. A win at Bangalore in third Test to draw the series, though, would be the perfect way to leave, like in 2005.

India has always been a big tour for me belonging to a Hindu culture. I have spent a lot of my spare time going to temples to take Asharwad. There are so many beautiful temples over here because of the large Hindu culture and population in India. There is great mythology here and I enjoy all that. There are lovely temples in Karachi, where I live, also, but being in India is something different for me. If you asked me to name a favourite I could not as each one offers something different.

It would have been nicer to have had the freedom to have explored India more but security has been so tight that it isn’t always possible to come and go as you please. It is the same for the Indians when they come to Pakistan. It’s not a complaint as I understand the situation and that this is the way it has to be but it is a shame.

From a cricketing point of view it has been an exciting but highly pressured series, which is what you expect when our countries meet. The series is currently poised nicely going to Bangalore after we managed to draw the Calcutta Test. Obviously we cannot win the series but we are all motivated to come away from Bangalore with a victory as we did in 2005.

I have special memories of that match in 2005 as I took five wickets in the second innings, including the winning wicket of Balaji. The celebrations were great and of course back then we had our late coach Bob Woolmer with us. Like the position we find ourselves in now, we fought back well from 1-0 down.

Our latest comeback was due to some great batting from Kamran Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq before our captain, in the game, Younis Khan played a brilliant innings to see us to safety along with Mohammed Yousuf. But we shouldn’t forget the part that Sami played when he offered superb support to Misbah in the first innings. The draw was a great boost to us before the third Test. We now have something to play for.

From a personal viewpoint, the most satisfying part of the Calcutta Test was taking Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket because I always wanted to do that. It is the ultimate to dismiss a player of his quality and greatness. It’s always good for the confidence to have a such a great player in your locker. I bowled all my deliveries to him and he played them so well but on that occasion he played the wrong shot and tried to attack my googly. I very much enjoyed the moment. Hopefully there will be more like that.