I thought I was completely out of place on my Test debut against Pakistan, reveals Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar has reminisced his first tour of Pakistan where he felt completely out of place and was sure in his head that it was his first and last Test. Wasim Akram added that after Tendulkar’s heroics, entire Pakistan got to know who Tendulkar was and realised the potential.
A child prodigy in Bombay school cricket, who was racking up runs for fun, Tendulkar’s early accenture to Indian cricket team was a story worth thousands of pages of details. It has been discussed time and time again, but there is always a refreshing feel when Tendulkar opens up about the historic match in Karachi.
"When I went in to bat. I was waiting for the yorker. But Akram kept bowling bouncer. There were no rules on the number of bouncers. And then I thought okay this is how you are welcomed to Test cricket. Akram and Waqar were bowling really fast. I had never faced that kind of pace,” Tendulkar said in India Today-Aaj Tak Salam Cricket Conclave.
"I thought I was completely out of place. I thought that was my first and last Test. I walked back with a lot of embarrassment and I went to the washroom, I looked at my face in the mirror and thought that was it. I wanted just another opportunity to prove myself," Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar was a hyped character in Bombay cricket thanks to his record-breaking feats in the Harris Shield and his progression was also met with a lot of criticism for the fact that the selection committee was thinking about taking a 16-year-old boy to face the fearsome Pakistan bowling attack led by Wasim Akram.
However, the Mumbaikar destroyed all the preconceptions to establish himself as the balm that India needed during the 1990s. Akram revealed that the tour was a celebration of Tendulkar’s grit and the world had a first-hand idea of the same.
"I remember when India were about to come to Pakistan - we heard about a young sensation coming from India. And we thought how could a 16-year-old boy playing Test cricket be so good?
"But he did not react to provocation from our pacers. Top batsmen do not react. I would get very annoyed when people smiled back.. On that tour, Pakistan got to know who Sachin Tendulkar was. We realised this guy was something special," Akram said.