Kuala Lumpur, September 14: October 25, 2005, it was Nagpur. September 14, 2006, it is Kuala Lumpur. That time the focus was on his dodgy elbow, this time the doubters narrowed their eyes to check the just-healed shoulder. Injuries can change and so can the venues but not Sachin Tendulkar’s knack of showing surgical precision in the timing of a big knock after a visit to the surgeon.

Mortals run in front of BCCI doctors to prove their fitness, Tendulkar piles runs in comeback games to show all’s well with him. Last year, it was his 93 from 97 balls that saw him change the question mark against his name to an exclamation, today his 141 from 148 balls with 13 fours and 6 sixes just added more. Headline hunters will have to be lot more imaginative, since playing with words has become dangerous as Endulkar would now mean end of debate about Tendulkar’s future.

To say this was Tendulkar of old would be a cliché as this was Tendulkar of ancient ago. Imperious, assured and breathtaking. There can’t a bigger party-pooper than someone who will harp on that dropped catch behind the stumps when Tendulkar was on 5 in the day’s second over. By evening, that early edge was forgotten as there were enough shots from the middle of the bat (see box).

To call this knock as his best ever innings, one would have to be among the many first-time live cricket watchers like so many at the Kinrara today. But even regular Tendulkar watchers would agree that this was one of the best knocks he has played as a 30-plus star. Surely, some aspects of his 141 today can be compared to his earlier great knocks.

The no-holds-barred strokeplay reminded of his 83 off 43 balls he scored as a 21-year-old, who was pushed as an opener for the first time in New Zealand . The two paced pitch — Dravid, Sehwag, Dhoni getting out to sudden snorters — and the rain-stop proved that things were more difficult than that memorable ‘Sharjah sandstorm Tendulkar double bill’ in 1998. And by the way, Tendulkar hit just one six during that famous 93 against Pakistan during WC 2003.

With Tendulkar carrying his bat and being on the pitch for more than three-and-a-half hours — the last time he did this was when he was 26 as scored 186 against New Zealand at Hyderabad — it was also proved that despite being 33, the boots are tied tightly and he will decide the time to hang them.

There are more things to this innings at KL that reminds one of last comeback innings at Nagpur — his long association with one-drop batsman Irfan Pathan. Just the other day, we saw Tendulkar’s long pep talk to the team at nets in the presence of a silent coach and captain who seemed quite pleased to have the aging star play the mentor. It would be interesting to recall that in the days before his October, 2005 comeback, one for the first time had heard about coach’s concept of Tendulkar playing the mentor. The coach knows that to keep the master in mood he needs to be a mentor.

‘It was a special hundred’

Sachin Tendulkar unwinds after his 141:

On comeback: It is a challenge.You are coming out of a few injuries, it was a huge setback. But you just got to keep fighting and be mentally strong to hit back and I am quite happy about it.

On the 100: It will be a special 100 on a difficult track after six months of break. I am pretty happy about it. I had to work on certain things. It was unfortunate that I missed the West Indies tour. After that, I had planned a programe, played a few practice games in London. But when I came back, it was raining in Mumbai so I had to practice with the rubber ball. I got five to six sessions in Bangalore and Chennai. That was a bonus and I got reasonable practice in Chennai and Bangalore.

On the pitch: Before we played the first ball, I knew about the pitch. Only thing we were trying to do was to keep it out of our mind. No point thinking about it as one had to plan his game accordingly and I did that.

On his role: Cricket has been my life, to be honest. I am living my dream. Everytime I go out on the field, there is lot of enthusiasm. If I find it a burden, then I would know when to step back and step aside and say it is the end. But I am enjoying it. I just want to continue.