Sachin Tendulkar’s former coach has narrated an interesting story as to how the Master Blaster decoded Shane Warne’s magic. The legendary battles between Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne will go down in cricketing folklore. The duo came face to face for the first time in Shane Warne’s Test debut at the SCG in 1992 but it wasn’t until the late 1990s that the battle would become the cynosure of all eyes.
Their duels in Sharjah, India and Australia were the stuff of legends. In 1998, when the Aussies landed on Indian soil to play a Test series, it was no longer about India against Australia. Everyone dubbed it as Shane Warne against Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar Had A Specific Plan In Mind And Asked Mumbai Teammates To Attack The Leg Spinner Shane Warne Recalls Balwinder Singh Sandhu
Sachin Tendulkar would go on to get the upper hand over Shane Warne in what is still remembered fondly as Sachin Tendulkar’s series. But even before the Test series began, the first time Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne collided at their peak was during a three-day game between Mumbai and the Australians.
Sachin Tendulkar, captain of Mumbai, scored a double-century and led his team to a 10-wicket win, but it was his planning on tackling Shane Warne which was acted as the icing on the cake.
“Sachin had a specific plan in mind and he told all the players to attack Warne. On the Indian wickets, Warne was the only Aussie bowler, who could trouble our batsmen. So, instead of being defensive against him, Sachin advised the boys to be positive and to ensure that they were not done in by Warne’s reputation.
“I believe the manner in which Mumbai’s First-Class players defeated Australia in two-and-half days gave a lot of confidence to the Indian batsmen thereafter,” Balwinder Singh Sandhu, former Mumbai coach and India pacer said.
Sachin Tendulkar called time on his 24-year-long illustrious career in November of 2013 after completing 200 Tests for India, finishing with over 33,000 international runs and 100 centuries. Meanwhile, former Indian cricket and Mumbai coach, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, someone who saw Sachin Tendulkar from close quarters said that Shane Warne was the only bowler who troubled the Little Master.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Aggressive Approach Against Shane Warne Benefitted Both Mumbai And India Recalls Balwinder Singh Sandhu
When it was finally time for India versus Australia Border-Gavaskar series to begin, Sachin Tendulkar emerged as the Player of the Series. He scored 446 runs at an average of over 100, while Shane Warne grabbed 10 wickets from three Tests, but the fact that the Master Blaster had decided to take the attack to the maestro of spin is what turned the course of the match, recalls Balwinder Singh Sandhu.
“The plan to attack Warne worked well as it not only benefited the Mumbai team but also the Indian team. The message for Team India’s senior batsmen was clear that if you attack Warne, you can prevent him from dominating you. It’s definitely one of the reasons Team India dominated the Test series,” he added.
The duo faced each other in 29 matches at the international level where their face-off was riveting, to say the least. Shane Warne dismissed Sachin Tendulkar on four occasions whereas the latter also smacked him all around the park during many of his memorable knocks versus Australia.
Shane Warne signed off from international cricket with second-most Test scalps (708), a hat-trick in the purest Test format, an ODI World Cup medal and also the Player-of-the-Match in the 1999 edition’s finale. The former leg spinner passed away recently with an autopsy report revealing natural death.