Waqar younis bouncer to sachin tendulkar biography
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Test-saving hundreds have become extinct now but Sachin Tendulkar carved out one such innings exactly 30 years ago, the seeds of which were sown during one afternoon in Sialkot, eight months prior to that gloomy Manchester day.
It was on August 14, 1990, that Tendulkar scored the first of his 100 international centuries, a majestic 119 not out on a fifth day track to save the game for India.
Asked about that special first, and it seemed like yesterday.
“I scored that 100 on August 14 and next day was our Independence Day, so it was special.
The headline was different and that hundred at least kept the series alive till next Test at the Oval,” Tendulkar told PTI on the eve of the 30th anniversary of his first ton.
So what exactly was the feeling, apart from the pure joy of achieving the milestone?
“The art of saving a Test match was a new experience for me,” Tendulkar said but added he knew he could save a game when he batted with a “bloodied nose” and a blood-soaked jersey after being hit by Waqar Younis.
“In Sialkot where I got hit and scored 57, we saved that Test match, too, from 38 for 4.
So what.
“They wanted to finish the game and they wanted to win.
I continued batting. Pakistan players realised that it was a crunc moment. In that buzz around me, Javed Miandad — we all know how he can be — he was nudging me and said, ‘Tera naak toot gaya hai, tere ko hospital jaana padega’ (You have broken your nose, you will have to go to the hospital).
“Imran tells him, ‘Javed leave him alone’.
I got hit off a bouncer from Waqar Younis on my nose, I wasn’t used to wearing a grill and my face was exposed to the blow. My pain threshold was fairly high.
‘You’ve broken your nose, you have to go to hospital’: Tendulkar recalls a story about Miandad
Sachin Tendulkar recalled a story about his first Pakistan Test when he was hit on the nose and how Javed Miandad tried to sledge him after he was hit on the nose by Waqar Younis’ bouncer.
“My first tour of Pakistan, we were playing the fourth Test, we had drawn the first three.
Had I walked off, they would’ve been in a dominating position. That was one moment where I felt that an injury like that can make or break you. I broke my nose and I was bleeding,” Tendulkar said in an event organised by Infosys.
“Naturally, the game stopped. Waqar’s bouncer and playing through pain defined me.
“I’m glad I did not walk to the dressing room and I continued batting there. We drew the Test and we drew the series which meant a lot,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar made his India debut in that Test series against Pakistan in 1989. You don’t show your pain to the bowler,” the legend said.
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After those kind of hits you are either stronger or you are nowhere to be seen.”As scary as it may seem now, Tendulkar, in the first innings of that Manchester match, was hit on the back of the head by one of the fastest pacers in the world back then, Devon Malcolm.
“Devon and Waqar, during that phase, were easily the two quickest bowlers in the world bowling at 90 mph.
“Yes, I didn’t call the phsyio as I didn’t want to show them that I am in pain.
In the last innings of the fourth Test, we were some 36/4 down. It’s okay to get hit.