There& #39;s always anxiety prior to a Cricket match, but this particular WC match had us emotionally drained with India& #39;s beloved son returning to Cricket, post the sad demise of his beloved father

#OnThisDay in Bristol & #39;99, @sachin_rt was "blessed by his father" from the heavenhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⬇️" title="Downwards arrow" aria-label="Emoji: Downwards arrow">

Post a narrow https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💔" title="Broken heart" aria-label="Emoji: Broken heart"> 3 run loss to Zimbabwe 4 days ago, we were up against Kenya in a surely must win game for us to keep ourselves alive in the WC. A lot was riding on this game with Sachin returning to the squad on the insistence of his dear family, to honour his national dutieshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">

On a cold breezy Bristol morning, Kenya decided to field first in the quest to pick some quick wickets from the Indian top order. @SGanguly99 & Ramesh gave a wonderful platform with a 50 run opening stand. Martin Suji bowled a great opening spell with India @ 92/2 in 20.5 overs.

In walked @sachin_rt for what was his most difficult walk to the centre pitch in his 24 year long international career, with tears in his eyes, mind & soulhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💔" title="Broken heart" aria-label="Emoji: Broken heart">
What followed next was batting grit from Sachin & Dravid for the remainder of the innings, with scintillating strokeplayhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤" title="Red heart" aria-label="Emoji: Red heart">

The moment arrived when Sachin crossed the 3 figure mark. He immediately looked skyward, thanked GOD, searched for his father up there smiling at him & showering his blessings upon his loving son out there, who was fighting a battle within himself more than his opponent that day.

The duo added 237 runs in 29.1 overs, to take India to a more than formidable 329/2. An excellent score against any opposition, post being inserted to have a bat first. They needed this momentum to up their confidence and also their NRR toohttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙌" title="Raising hands" aria-label="Emoji: Raising hands">
Kenya had a huge task on their hands.

What followed was a clinical display of some good swing bowling from @iamjavagal, @imAagarkar & Mohanty sharing 6 wkts amongst them with Mohanty being the https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💥" title="Collision symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Collision symbol"> with figures of 4/56.
Kenya ended with 235/7, with India winning by a huge margin of 94 runs https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇳" title="Flag of India" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of India">

India won the match, but the bigger battle was won that day in the hearts of billions of Indians across the globe & especially in the mind, heart & soul of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Post that day, his beloved father has kept wishing him love & happiness from up there, forever https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤" title="Red heart" aria-label="Emoji: Red heart">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💥" title="Collision symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Collision symbol">

Images : @GettyImages @ESPNcricinfo @sportstarweb @firstpost