Former Indian legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar has finally revealed facing the great Pakistani spinner Abdul Qadir and hitting four sixes against him. India and Pakistan were playing an exhibition match T20 match in 1989, long before the T20 format came officially into existence. Tendulkar was only 16 years old and had just got into the Indian team.
He announced his arrival to international cricket in a huge fashion, with his hard-hitting against the Pakistani legendary bowlers. Sachin had made headlines after showing his batting prowess against bowlers of great stature in that match.
Sachin Tendulkar, Image Credit: Getty Images.
Sachin Tendulkar recalls the 1989 T20 exhibition match against Pakistan
Sachin told due to the rains the teams had agreed to play a T20 exhibition match so the huge crowd didn’t have to leave disappointed. 16-year-old Tendulkar went out to bat at number 4 when India needed more than 65 runs off four overs.
“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.
Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar. Image Credit: Twitter.
“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.”
Sachin Tendulkar Reveals What Spurred Him On To Hit Four Sixes Off Abdul Qadir
India were chasing and the target seemed very far when Sachin asked then captain Kris Srikanth to go for the total and his response was positive. That led Sachin to his hard-hitting and his first prey was Mushtaq Ahmed who conceded two sixes and a four from the Master Blaster. Next in line was Abdul Qadir who came to Sachin and openly challenged him to hit him. Tendulkar hit four sixes off him over.
“Kris Srikkanth was the captain so our discussion was to get some practice for the next game. I told Chikka ‘I think we should go for the total’. He said ‘Yes, why not.’ And that’s how I started connecting the shots,” Tendulkar said.
Abdul Qadir was the best spinner of his time. Credits: Twitter
“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.”
Pakistan went on to win the match narrowly but Tendulkar had introduced his thunderous arrival to the world. No one had ever bashed the great Abdul Qadir how this 16-year old did. The over reading: 6, 0, 4, 6, 6, 6, with Tendulkar remaining unbeaten on 53.
