Tendulkar is batting better than ever! By Vivek Atray

Sachin Tendulkar is batting better than ever before...and that takes some doing! He has been the pre-eminent batsman of his generation, without a doubt. He has conquered, blasted, mauled and even devastated the best of bowlers in the world for the past 20 years, and he is still at it! For a batsman so dominant and breathtakingly strokeful, it is a wonder, even a miracle, that he has not only endured for so long, but has even grown better with age.
There was certainly a period in the last few years when his batting, especially in Test matches, was definitely on the wane. He seemed tentative at times, though flashes of brilliance were always on view. Injuries did not help and there were long periods when he had to keep out of cricket, thereby making a comeback of sorts many a time, not an easy task in cricket, even for the very best.
For the past two years though, and certainly as of now, Tendulkar has been delighting us again with the panache of old. His sublime centuries on tour in Australia, both in the Tests and in the ODI finals, followed by a brilliant match-winning knock in the historic Chennai Test last year against England proved that he was on song once more. The collective down turn of India's batting in Sri Lanka notwithstanding, 2008 proved to be the year when Tendulkar looked to be near his best.
In New Zealand, and one has been watching very closely, he seems so much at ease at the crease, and also with himself, that he has unraveled one magical stroke after another, with consummate ease. He has caressed the ball and he has seduced it to the boundary with such sheerness of class that Kiwi commentators (all former Test players) have often been left awestruck, dumbstruck and speechless, all at once.
In a career that has given us many a moment to relish and cherish, Sachin Tendulkar seems to be on top of his considerably spectacular game, and seems more at peace with his batting and his unending talent than he has ever been before.
Those who were chanting END-ulkar had better think again...here is a man who is likely to become the first to score a hundred international centuries...truly TON-dulkar! Bat on, Sir...we are watching with bated breath.