Sachin Tendulkar should have been allowed to score 200: Yuvraj Singh recalls infamous Multan declaration
India Today
Recalling the infamous declaration call from the 2004 Test in Multan, Yuvraj Singh said India could have declared after Sachin Tendulkar got his double hundred. Tendulkar was stranded on 194 when Rahul Dravid declared India's first innings against Pakistan.
Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has recalled the infamous call from then captain Rahul Dravid in the 2004 Test between India and Pakistan in Multan, saying Sachin Tendulkar should have been allowed to score a double hundred. Yuvraj said India had enough time in the game to force a result and revealed that Tendulkar and himself, who were batting in the middle, were told to get to their milestones at a quicker pace.
India declared their first innings on 675/5 following Yuvraj Singh's fifty. As soon as the left-hander by Imran Farhat, Rahul Dravid called the two batters back to the dressing room in a decision that left quite a few, including Sachin Tendulkar, surprised. Tendulkar was batting on 194, 6 runs short of a famous double hundred on Pakistan soil.
Tendulkar, in the following years, had spoken about the declaration, saying how he was upset by Dravid's call. in his autobiography, 'Playing It My Way' Tendulkar recalled how he had told his former teammate Dravid that he was not happy with the call.
Recalling the turn of events before the declaration, Yuvraj Singh said he felt that India should have declared after Tendulkar got his 200.
"We got a message in between that we had to play fast, and we were going to declare," Yuraj told Sports18.
"He could have got those six runs in another over and we bowled 8-10 overs after that. I do not think another two overs would have made a difference to the Test match.
"If it was the third or the fourth day, you have to put the team first and they would have declared when you were at 150. There is a difference of opinion. I think the team could have declared after his 200," Yuvraj added.
