KOLKATA, India — At precisely 9:39 am on day two of the first Test between India and West Indies, Sachin Tendulkar walked in to bat. The Eden Gardens rose together, in rousing reception of the Master Blaster, who is playing his 199th and penultimate Test match here.

There was much anticipation, especially after his two-over-magic on the previous day. And he duly obliged, with two signature drives past mid-wicket for four. He moved on to an individual score of ten runs quickly, although he was being watchful at the same time. There was something in the pitch and Shane Shillingford was making the ball sing. This was poised to be a classic battle.

But then, a doosra from the tall spinner thudded into his pads. Sachin was hit on his back-foot, a little high for comfort, the ball seemingly expected to float above the stumps. Much to the stupor of the Kolkata crowd, umpire Nigel Llong raised his finger. He was gone, after spending 41 minutes at the crease.

Rarely does a Test debutant, playing on home soil, walks up to the crease with stunned silence surrounding him. More so when he has just recorded an ODI double hundred in his last innings. If Rohit Sharma was feeling any nerves, then he certainly did a good job of concealing them.

There was much to do. The Indian top-order had collapsed. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli, who have munched a hundred spinners for lunch, were back in the pavilion. Shillingford was on a roll and threatening to run through the batting. Not only was Rohit expected to lead the Indian fightback, he also needed to satiate the desires of the crowd. People had grown expectant when word spread that Sachin Tendulkar was batting.

Rohit did not baulk at the challenge. He spent the first few overs measuring up the wicket, waiting out the good overs. Lunch hour was nearing and along with skipper MS Dhoni, he steered his team to that shore safely. Post the break, his shot making grew bolder and runs started flowing from both ends. After the ball was changed, Dhoni was dismissed, but his partner did not relent.

That has been the key feature of Rohit’s run-making in 2013. Talent has never been missing from his game. It was just a matter of coming good. He has been missing out for long. But ever since he started opening the innings in ODI cricket, he learnt the art of building an innings. His ability has found its purpose and his recent run of form is proof of that.

“The plan was to see out the good spell of Shillingford. I knew it would pass soon and if I stick around, it will pay rich dividend in the end. And that is precisely what happened. My partnership with (Ravichandran) Ashwin was very vital. We needed to bat till the end of the day, because we want to bat till after lunch on day three. That will give us a good lead and put us in a good position for the match,” said the ecstatic debutant.

“I love playing at Eden Gardens. I made my Ranji Trophy debut here, got the Mumbai Indians captaincy here, won the IPL here, and now a Test debut plus a maiden hundred,” Rohit added.

What perhaps deflated the Windies attack was how his partner-in-crime Ashwin matched the centurion stroke for stroke. It was no wonder that Darren Sammy had talked about the off-spinner in his pre-match conference, highlighting how he had taken the game away from them in 2011 with a maiden hundred in Mumbai. Ashwin is very much on his way to replicating that success, ending the day eight runs short of a second Test hundred.

For West Indies, their big hope of fighting back once again on the third morning rests on the new ball (only 22 overs old) available to them. The batsmen will need to get set again. Shillingford in particular did the majority of his tricks in the first session using the first new ball, while it was still hard. It could be their last chance to come back in this match, and the bowler of the day almost confirmed it.

“I liked bowling with the new ball, while it was still hard. The older ball is easier to grip though, but the pitch eased out a bit post lunch. But there are still three days left in this Test and we will be fighting again next morning to restrict the Indian lead. We will have to bowl a little bit better,” Shillingford signed off.