In His Likely Final Innings, Tendulkar Does Not Disappoint MUMBAI - In what is likely to be his final innings in cricket, the Indian star Sachin Tendulkar didn't disappoint his 33,000 screaming fans at Wankhede Stadium on Friday as he scored 74 runs in the first innings of his last test match, helping his team recover from a potentially tricky position after the loss of two early wickets. After an innings that lasted 2.5 hours, in the end, Tendulkar fell short of the century many had hoped for, by 26 runs. But the undimmed quality of his batting in his final innings answered his critics who had been pressing him to quit the game earlier. Tendulkar's innings began late on Thursday afternoon. This was somewhat unexpected because, after winning the toss earlier that morning, the Indian captain M.S. Dhoni had made the opposition West Indies bat first. But the West Indies produced another inept batting performance - their third in a row in Tendulkar's farewell series - and the team was dismissed with over two hours of play left in the day. Once news of the collapse of the West Indian batting went around later on Thursday, the Wankhede began filling up to capacity. Many had stayed away from the ground earlier in the day once they realized that the West Indies were batting, calculating that they were unlikely to see Tendulkar bat that day. Many others had turned up but left midway, and now scampered back to the ground. This was followed a rare and unprecedented sight at an Indian ground: the crowd hoping that the batsmen of the home team would be dismissed. Once the second wicket fell, the West Indian team assembled in two rows to give Tendulkar the guard of honor, a gesture reserved for the greats of the game. Even the umpires, demanded to be neutral in all circumstances, joined them. In the Sachin Tendulkar Stand (Tendulkar is perhaps the only active player to have a stand named after him), where I sat, the crowd had already worked itself up to a frenzy, chanting Tendulkar's name with a fervor at once unrelenting and frightening. Empty plastic bottles battered the iron fences and the plastic seats, producing the music singular to Indian grounds. No one sat as long as Tendulkar batted. This adulation, and the accompanying sense of expectation in what may be his last innings, would have broken a weaker man. But Tendulkar, as he has more than two decades now, remained calm and unflustered. The only departure from his usual routine was when he bowed down towards the pitch - a gesture symbolizing both reverence and gratitude - before facing his first ball. Despite the incessant chanting, the crowd betrayed hints of nervousness. The possibility of an early dismissal - a possibility always present in cricket - gnawed at them. This was a scenario too heartbreaking for the spectators to even contemplate, and in his last innings, they were eager for the master to reprise some of the strokes they have worshiped for so long. Tendulkar obliged them duly, unleashing signature cuts and drives, and playing with a freedom that turned back the clock to his earlier, more imperious self. Among the spectators was his mother, Rajni, who uses a wheelchair, and, surprisingly, had never seen her son play in person before. Tendulkar remained unbeaten at the close of play on the first day. In the interim, before play resumed Friday morning, the country fell into the grip of a fevered conversation. Experts on television dissected his innings and read meaning in the most insignificant things. Social media speculated feverishly until the early hours of the morning. Even more devoted fans conducted religious ceremonies and prayed for him to score a century. The mood was summed up by a headline in The Telegraph: "Sachin batting on 38, dreams still not out." A charged mood prevailed on Friday as the time of play drew nearer. Long lines snaked from the Wankhede all the way to Marine Drive, Mumbai's famous boulevard facing the Arabian Sea. A three-layer security check meant that many still waited to enter the ground even as play resumed, and desperation seemed to be taking over. Once they passed the final layer of security, most ran towards the stands, eager not to miss a single moment while Tendulkar was in the middle. Tendulkar continued seamlessly from the previous day, striking a boundary nearly every over. His defense was immaculate too, giving no quarter to the opposition. Unlike his last innings in Kolkata, where his play at times looked uncertain, a century in Mumbai was a distinct, and real, possibility. Not an empty seat could be spotted at the Wankhede once he had crossed 50. Another element added to the personal drama was that his 14-year-old son, Arjun, a junior-level Mumbai cricketer, was patrolling the ropes as a ballboy. As the father struck boundaries, the son retrieved the ball and sent it back to the bowlers. It seemed a perfect day. But, against the run of play, Tendulkar was dismissed to an uncharacteristically poor shot. The long-feared departure was brief: He turned around and walked, raising his bat to acknowledge the crowd just before he climbed up the steps to the pavilion. One could not tell if there were tears in his eyes as he left the center; TV footage gives the slightest hint of misty eyes. But given that his 40 years have been entirely given to cricket, a game he has lived and breathed, it could not have been an easy parting. An eerie silence engulfed the Wankhede once Tendulkar was gone. Two hours later, when Cheteshwar Pujara, a fine young batsman and a rising star of Indian cricket, reached his century, the stadium had emptied by half.