Karachi Test: For Sachin, it's special

This very ground has something very special for the batting maestro.

After the two drawn matches, the third Test starting on Sunday at Karachi could not only be a virtual 'tie-breaker' for India and Pakistan, but would also be a nostalgic moment for Sachin Tendulkar.

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Sixteen years ago, on November 15, 1989, when the 16-year-old diminutive figure walked out to the middle, at the very National Stadium, one seldom would have thought that he would have the cricketing world at his feet. A new grand master was in the making.

His bravery was proved after he was hit on the head on his debut by a Waqar Younis delivery, but the latter got him bowled for 15 later in the match.

In this series which has seen the bat dominating the ball so far, Sachin has only got to bat in the second Test at Faisalabad where he failed.

Now, with the series levelled 0-0, there will be a lot at stake and Sachin would be too keen to make his mark.

All eyes will be on Sachin after Pakistan's Moin Khan made a comment on Friday that the Mumbai maestro is almost finished as a batsman.

There have been criticisms in the past as well on Sachin, but every time the champion player has silenced all his critics with his bat.

The Test match may also witness a bat and ball fight between Shoiab Akthar and the little master, especially with the remarks of Khan about the second Test that Sachin decided to walk back because he was scared of the pace Shoaib Akhtar was generating from a pitch as dead as Iqbal Stadium's in Faisalabad.

So on Sunday, Sachin would love to have the final say in a city where he had started his journey of international cricket.