ONE DAY WITH SACHIN TENDULKAR: The first time I properly saw one-dayers was during the 1983 World Cup. I was just 10. Back then, I didn’t understand the intricacies of the game, it was all about enjoying cricket, being in love with it and spending as much time on the ground as possible.
And then came a big moment when I saw India winning the World Cup and a thought came to mind – one day I want to do this.
That’s where my journey started. While playing school cricket, it was all about playing for India for me. Having watched India win the World Cup, I wasn’t clear in my head if I wanted to play ODIs or Test cricket. Now when I look back, it was always Tests. Being an attacking batsman, I liked playing my shots but there was a realisation that if I did well in Test cricket, ODI selection would automatically follow.
It was that one match in Peshawar during the 1989 tour of Pakistan that helped me cement my place in ODIs. Thousands had turned up but it rained on the morning of the match and the game was called off. Not to disappoint the fans, the teams agreed to play an exhibition game. So we ended up playing a curtailed game, which was to be the first T20 match of my life. It was the game where I scored an 18-ball 53. (Tendular’s scoring sequence in that famous Abdul Qadir over was: 6, 0, 4, 6, 6, 6). On that tour, my first, till then it was all about Test cricket. I was playing along the ground, focusing on forward defence, leaving the ball outside the off-stump to fast bowlers, and all that. It was all about technique and the team’s game plan.
In that Peshawar game. I was able to show my ability to hit the ball. It was the first time my own teammates saw that side of my play. They realised I could hit the ball.
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Achrekar sir (Tendulkar’s childhood coach Late Ramakant Achrekar) always asked us to avoid aerial shots, and play along the ground. We all tried to follow what he told us but things started to change quite a bit as I was getting stronger with age. Practising at Wankhede Stadium also made a huge difference to my overall game. I was just 14 when I joined the Mumbai Ranji Trophy nets at Wankhede Stadium. The quality of bowlers that I faced there was really good. It changed the way I thought and the way I wanted to play my shots.
