Sachin Tendulkar: The journey of a young sensation from Mumbai

A young Sachin Tendulkar holding a cricket bat.

1976

A three year old kid saw his brother, Ajit Tendulkar, playing cricket with his friends. It was at this point of time that he came to know about this game, a sport which would, in future, become known to the whole world by his name- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

1984

Ajit would see Sachin with the bat and gradually he learnt about the massive batting talent that his brother had inside. After talking with father Ramesh Tendulkar, Ajit introduced Sachin to Ramakant Achrekar, the most famous coach in Bombay, at Shivaji Park. So it was the year 1984 that marked the beginning of Sachin Tendulkar’s cricketing journey.

Ramakant Achrekar said in an interview about Sachin, “he was very stubborn and had a great spirit.” He really enjoyed Sachin’s batting at the nets and because he saw a great talent in Sachin, Achrekar advised him to join Sharadashram Vidyamandir High School.

Gradually, young Sachin became Achrekar’s most preffered player. He would ask Sachin to bat in five nets and on the last net he would keep a coin on the middle stump as a reward for the bowler who would take Sachin’s wicket. Unfortunately, for the bowlers, Sachin won the coin every time. The impressed coach would then allow Sachin to take part in two or three matches, in various places, in a single day.

But amidst all this, Brother Ajit Tendulkar always supported Sachin. He sacrificed his own career in order to build his young brother’s career. He would always go with Sachin to the places where he played practice matches and discuss with him about his batting technique.

Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli during their partnership

23^rd to 25^th February, 1988

The Lord Harris shield match between Shardashram Vidyamandir and St Xavier’s brought Sachin Tendulkar one step closer to Mumbai Cricket. It was during this match that young Sachin piled a historic 664 run partnership with Vinod Kambli.

By the end of the 1^st day, both batsmen had crossed their 150-run mark. On the 2^nd day, they continued their partnership and never followed coach Achrekar’s instruction of declaring early. Teenager Sachin, who was also the captain, ordered his fellow partner Kambli, not to glance at assistant Laxman Chavan while batting.

When they declared, Sachin Tendulkar was not out on 326 and Vinod Kambli was also unbeaten on 349. St Xavier’s scored a paltry 154, which gifted Sachin’s team the match. The victory margin was a mammoth 594 runs.

It is said that the bowlers cried when they bowled to the duo as the batsmen were hitting the ball very hard. In fact, one bowler was hit for three consecutive sixes in an over. To save his demolition, he pretended to have been injured and left the field.

Sachin Tendulkar with Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin

Playing for Mumbai and then for India

Mumbai was the centre of Indian Cricket in those days and the city was known to produce some great players. Many Indian players had heard about this young guy who was creating sensation from such a small age.

At Baroda, Dilip Vengsarkar, who was also the captain of Indian cricket team, was talking of Sachin Tendulkar and his talent. But everybody had only one question- “How would he handle extreme pace bowling?”

Then Vengsarkar told Kapil Dev to bowl Sachin in the nets to see whether he has the talent to play quality fast bowling. This was also a test for Sachin as he was about to be selected for the Mumbai cricket team. He batted to the full satisfaction of the Indian captain and ultimately he was selected for the Ranji Trophy match.

On 11^th December 1988, the teenager scored a sparkling century in his debut Ranji Trophy match. He looked set to be selected for the West Indies tour but, keeping in mind the presense of fast bowlers like Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, the Indian selectors didn’t select him. It was then the special quote came from Sachin- “If I get injured, I will learn more.”

With the Pakistan tour coming up, the teenager sensation from Mumbai scored another brilliant century in his Irani Trophy debut. Finally, he was selected for the Pakistan tour and was all set to begin his International Cricket journey.

He went on to score half centuries, in Faisalabad and Sialkot, and showed the world his class in batting.

After that tour ended, Ravi Shastri, on being asked about the teenager said, “He has been sent by God to play cricket and then go back.”