Chasing 271, India were down to 82-5 when Sachin Tendulkar (136) and Nayan Mongia (52) stitched together a 136-run partnership before the wicketkeeper gifted his wicket. Still 53 short of the target, Tendulkar, struggling with back spasms, kept India in the match but his dismissal 34 deliveries after Mongia’s, cleared the path for Pakistan.

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India’s last four wickets, including Tendulkar’s, fell within four runs as Pakistan won the Test by 12 runs. “I don’t really know, to be honest, what Sachin was thinking at the time,” Waqar said.  “Because they were cruising, it was not an issue, they still had four wickets in hand and they needed, I think, 16 runs.

“We took a new ball and first Nayan Mongia hit one in the air. I think he was in a rush or I don’t know what went through his mind. He thought the game was over and they won that game, and they got little complacent, especially Nayan Mongia. And once he got out, we were still sort of thinking, ‘That’s not going to happen, we are not going win this game. Till the time Sachin is there, it’s not going to happen.’

“Because the way he was batting, it was just out of this world. And then in the very next over, I think, to Saqlain Mushtaq, Sachin hit one in the air and that was it. That confidence, that belief started creeping in that now we will not allow them to get those 15-16 runs, whatever was required.

“And then Saqlain just got all over them. It was hard for them to defend, or to hit out and they were losing wickets. And I think they lost all four wickets in something like five or six overs, or maybe less. It was some Test match. I would say one of the best Tests I watched, I played and I witnessed.”

Sachin Tendulkar at Chepauk:

Tests: 10
Runs: 970
Hundreds: 5
Average: 88.18

His first Test 💯 in India and Chepauk 👇pic.twitter.com/7nSpADj72R

— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) July 2, 2020

Waqar reserved special praise for the Chennai crowd, which gave the Pakistan team a standing ovation after the nerve-wracking match. “I had not seen a crowd that good,” he said. “Across all five days, it was a packed house, more than 50,000 sitting. And after the Test match, we went for a round, and everyone stood up and clapped. It was just an amazing Test match.”