Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘Desert Storm’ Recalled By VVS Laxman
Sep 1, 2020 at 1:46 PM
Sachin Tendulkar is a legend who has many records to his name including the highest run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. He is best remembered for his swashbuckling batting display in the 1990s which was all about the of Sachin Tendulkar. The ‘Master Blaster’ batsman dominated opposition throughout the world and is remembered for his brilliant knocks in Sharjah.
The stadium was visited by VVS Laxman before IPL gets underway in UAE from 19th September. Sachin Tendulkar’s battles with the Australians always was on the headlines. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to score 100 international centuries and represented India for close to 24 years. He was part of the Indian team that won World Cup in 2011 after a hiatus of 28 years.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Innings Came To Be Known As ‘Desert Storm’
It was in Sharjah that Sachin Tendulkar played two of his best knocks in ODI cricket. The first came when he took India to the finals with an innings par excellence, which came to be known as ‘Desert Storm’ due to the sand storm stoppage after which Sachin Tendulkar went crazy with his shots all around the park.
The next was a masterclass century, which defeated the Aussies in the final. Both were 131-ball knocks with the ‘Master Blaster’ slamming 143 first and then following it up with a knock of 134 in the final, which was on his birthday.
His 143 runs knock comprised of 9 fours and 5 sixes in a lost cause which Australia won by 26 runs. But still, India reached the final as they had a better run rate than New Zealand. He scored 134 consisting of 12 fours and 3 sixes as India chased down 273 in the final. Sachin Tendulkar scored as many as 434 runs in the tournament which was played between Australia, New Zealand and India.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Heroics Remembered By VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman, who was trying to be a part of the Indian squad in those days, was witness to Sachin Tendulkar’s genius in the first of those two matches as he remained unbeaten on 23 while batting at the other end. VVS Laxman who is a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad’s team management visited the Sharjah Stadium where his franchise will be playing some of their matches and took to Twitter to recall the memory of those brilliant knocks played by Sachin Tendulkar.
VVS Laxman is remembered for his classy 281 which saw India defeating Australia in 2001 Test match despite following on. He did not feature in any ODI world cup but played 86 ODIs where he scored 2338 runs averaging a shade over 30.
Coming back to Sharjah after a long time. Whenever I walk on this field memories of those two special 100s from @sachin_rt comes back to my mind, rushing like a #desertstorm pic.twitter.com/HJajtKmBR1
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) August 30, 2020
The Sharjah stadium has witnessed several awesome performances mostly by Indians like over the years. The last edition of Sharjah Cup took place in 2003. Pakistan are the most successful team since 1984 with 15 titles. But match-fixing allegations saw the government banning India from participating in triangular tournaments.