Going after the total made me hit Abdul Qadir for four sixes, recalls Sachin Tendulkar

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was only 16 years of age when he took on one of the greatest spinners of all time, Abdul Qadir. Tendulkar made the announcement of his arrival on the scene by hitting Qadir for four sixes in an exhibition match. This famous feat in 1989 happened in a match that was of reduced to 20 overs after rain interrupted the match, way before the shortest format of the game came into existence. Tendulkar recalled what happened prior to the match and how the teams agreed to play.

“The match was in Gujranwala, I think. It had rained and both teams were informed that many spectators have come to see so why don’t we have a 20-over exhibition match?” Tendulkar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“We were told that this won’t be an international match but at least the crowd won’t return disappointed. So we agreed to play the match thinking we’ll at least get some practice out of this game. I was batting at No. 4 and I remember when I had gone out to bat, we had to score some 65-70 runs in four overs.”

Even though Pakistan went on to win the match narrowly, it was India’s Tendulkar that made headlines as he hit Qadir for four sixes in an over. He remained unbeaten at the end on 53, displaying a masterclass on attacking. Such aggressive gameplay was not a feat that happened regularly like today, in fact, it was unheard of. The former India batsman further revealed that discussion with captain Kris Srikkanth helped him propel. 

“Kris Srikkanth was the captain so our discussion was to get some practice for the next game. I told Chika ‘I think we should go for the total’. He said ‘Yes, why not.’ And that’s how I started connecting the shots,” Tendulkar said.

“Mushtaq (Ahmed) was bowling, he got hit for two sixes and a four. Abdul Qadir came to me and said ‘I’ll bowl from this side. Try and hit me’. I said you’re such a senior bowler, I can’t hit you that easily. So from there, we started chasing. That was a big over, we got some 27-28 runs.”