Sachin Tendulkar On Ravi Shastri :
Sachin Tendulkar is generally referred to by fans (especially Indian)as a ‘god of cricket’ because of his sporting achievements. During his distinguished career he broken and made multiple cricketing records. There were times when Sachin was struggling to get cricket going, but his perseverance towards achieving the best made him conquer the impossible. Pakistani bowlers are among the most feared in the world and in 1989, in his very first game, Sachin had to face Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis likes.
Sachin, 16, was forced to suffer several blows to his body bythe Pakistani pace attack and eventually made 15 runs in his debut innings.Tendulkar admitted that after the match he felt totally out of place and thought the match could be his ‘first and last outing.’
But Tendulkar said the current Indian coach Ravi Shastri’s suggestion changed everything for him and there was no backward look.
“I was a bit clueless; I must admit that. I played the first test as if I were playing a school game,” Sachin told Nasser Hussain to a leading sports website during the episode of ‘Nasser meets Sachin’
“Wasim and Waqar were fast bowling, throwing short balls and all sorts of impressive things they could do. I had never done anything like this, so it wasn’t a fun first trip” said Sachin.
“Occasionally, I got pounded by their pace and bounce, and I felt humiliated when I walked back to the dressing room when I got out on 15th. I was like ‘what did you do, why did you play like this’ and then I went straight to the bathroom when I entered the dressing room and I was almost in tears. I felt very out of place. I looked at myself and asked myself: ‘looks like this will be your first and last outing.’ I didn’t feel like I’m strong enough to play at this point. I felt upset and low” added Sachin.
The members of the team knew what had happened and Shastri spoke to him.
Adding further Sachin said, “It was then the team mates had realized. I still remember the conversation I had with Ravi Shastri. Ravi said, ‘You were playing as if it were a game of hockey. You play against the best bowlers; you need to value their talent and abilities. I told Ravi then that their (Pakistan bowlers) pace had beaten me. To which Ravi said: ‘You don’t worry, that happens with quite a few. You just look out and spend half an hour in the middle and then you’re going to get used to their pace, and after that it’s all going to fall into place.”
Following the advice in Faisalabad’s next game succeeded and the rest, as they say is history.
“When I was picked to play in Faisalabad’s second test, the only thought in my mind was, I won’t look at the scoreboard. I’ll just look at the clock, and don’t think about runs scoring. I batted for half an hour, and I felt very relaxed and in that match I scored 59 runs and then things started to change, “he said concluding the conversation.
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