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My first sighting of this precocious talent was at the Brabourne Stadium in 1988. I had finished my stint in the nets. It was a good two hours of bowling to some of our top batters. I was feeling good but I was tired too. It was humid and I had bowled non stop. That’s when Raj bhai (Dungarpur) walked up to me and said, “I want you to test this boy. He is very gifted.”
The boy was hardly 16. He stood padded up. I was wondering what was so great about him that Raj bhai wanted me to bowl to him. I had my apprehensions. I agreed to bowl six balls to this boy. I went soft but he looked prepared. He played a drive. As if to challenge me. I bowled a little quicker and he got into position deftly. This was getting interesting. I let go of one to rattle him. He played back. Looked good. That was my first meeting with Sachin Tendulkar.
I got to know him on the tour to Pakistan in 1989. It was brave of the selectors to pick him for a tour as demanding as Pakistan. He was ready. I observed him closely and was convinced that there was something about him. What was it? His ability to play in the big league at such a small age. His talent to take on bowlers like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He tore into Abdul Qadir in a tour game. There were glimpses of his prowess on that tour.
The knock he took on his nose from Waqar and the way he hit back was proof of his grit. I don’t know what went on in his mind when Waqar left him with a bleeding nose, but I was sure of one thing. This was a critical moment for the young man. Such incidents leave an impact on your mind. Only the strong hearted recover and that was exactly Sachin’s character. He played the same bowler with a lot of confidence and came up with some front-of-the-wicket shots. I knew we had a player who was going to serve the team for ong.
From the Pakistan tour, Sachin grew into a phenomenal batter. On the tour to England he adjusted well to the swing and seam and in Australia he was at his furious best on the bouncy track of Perth. It was an exceptional performance as he met fire with fire. His backfoot play is extraordinary but that day he was slamming the Australians on the front foot. You need skills to do that.
The success in Australia was followed by a superb century in Johannesburg on the historic tour to South Africa. Allan Donald was coming in with a lot of fire and it was one of the fastest spells I have seen in my career. You had to be technically sound and also gritty to face Donald that day and Sachin produced a scintillating century. I rate that knock high up and one of his very best. To meet that pace with aggression needed guts and Sachin displayed plenty.
Over the years, I saw Sachin grow as an individual. He was disciplined and committed to the team. In the nets, he would be too happy to bowl to any batter, even tailenders, and it showed his qualities as a team-man, He hardly made any demands and accepted each day as a learning process. A very inquisitive man, Sachin just won’t sit quiet. The competitive flair in him was infectious and I have seen how others in the dressing room would be inspired by him.
I was in the team for the first five years of his career. He picked up the lessons very fast, worked on his game amazingly to understand the nuances of batsmanship in different conditions. I was amazed at how he handled the pressure of having to perform every time he took guard. Failure would leave him so dejected. He took them to heart in his early years but came to embrace them and recover quickly to try and play to his potential.
Talking of potential, I feel he could have achieved much more. He had the calibre, but I suspect the pressure to perform impacted his natural flair to attack. I would have been happier if he had scored more double centuries because he had it in him — the stamina and the temperament. And yes, a triple century would have added to the lustre of his feats. Nevertheless, he will always be a rare jewel in the history of the game.
(As told to Vijay Lokapally)
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