The legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar gifted many incredible knocks during his international career. Even after his retirement from international cricket after more than six years, the right-handed batsman is still the only batsman to hit 100 international centuries. Recently, he picked up some of his great innings in the international career, and all were the lesser than 50+ knocks.
Recently, in an interview with cricket.com, Sachin Tendulkar talked about those special innings. The first one he chose the Bengaluru ODI against Australia on 25th March 2001. In that five-match series opener, Tendulkar and captain Sourav Ganguly opened the innings but Ganguly (6) was dismissed cheaply. Then, Tendulkar and VVS Laxman took the responsibility to handle the early situation and Tendulkar was batting aggressively in that initial moment.
Before Michael Bevan ran him out, Tendulkar scored 35 runs off 26 balls (6 fours and only six). Talking about that knock, Tendulkar also mentioned his one very successful over against the Aussie pacer Glenn McGrath where he hit three fours and one six. He feels that he could continue that smashing form in that game for a long period if he wasn’t run out.
Tendulkar told cricket.com, “An innings I will remember is the first ODI between India and Australia in 2001, right after we won the historic Test series. I was batting well with VVS Laxman and together we got India off to a flying start. I had decided to be more aggressive against Glenn McGrath. There was an over where I attacked McGrath and managed to hit three boundaries and a six. The idea was to not let him settle, and the plan had largely worked. I eventually got run out for 35 runs in that match but I was in good form to continue otherwise.”
I was able to counterattack and score quick 44 runs: Sachin Tendulkar about his other favourite ODI knock
His next choice was the Port of Spain ODI against the hosts West Indies on 26th April 1997 where the right-handed batsman scored 44 runs off 43 balls (10 fours) against the formidable Caribbean pace-bowling attack. It was the opening game of the four-match ODI series where the opener Tendulkar was also leading the Indian team.
He added, “Another innings I cherish is the first one-day international between West Indies and India at Trinidad in 1997. We batted first, and the weather was overcast, with the wicket damp in the morning. Not only was the wicket challenging to bat on, their bowling attack was extremely good as well. Their pace battery consisted of Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Franklin Rose. I was able to counterattack and score quick 44 runs, before getting out to Ambrose caught behind on what was an umpiring error. It was a rain-curtailed match and we lost the match, but purely for the tough conditions in which one had to bat on, I rank that innings as one of my favourites.”
Tendulkar also added that he couldn’t forget his performance against Australia in the quarter-final of the ICC KnockOut 2000 (7th October 2000) at Nairobi (Gym).
He claimed, “I cannot forget the match against Australia in the ICC Champions Knockout Trophy in Nairobi in 2000 as well.”
In that game, while India won by 20 runs, thanks to Yuvraj Singh’s batting (84 off 80 balls), opener Tendulkar provided a solid start with 38 runs off 37 balls (3 fours and 3 sixes).