Four interesting stories/facts about Sachin Tendulkar

16th November 2013 - the day when the entire nation came to a standstill. The moist eyes and the kind of human emotion on display were simply unmatched. The outburst of emotion was quite natural as It was the last time when Sachin Tendulkar would don the whites for India.

During these last five years, we have seen the Indian team undergo a considerable transformation. However, the only constant in the Indian dressing room was the void left after his retirement.

Over these last few seasons, Virat Kohli has been in stupendous form. He has shouldered the responsibility of batting at number four position and relieving the selectors from the enormous pressure of finding the right fit for the number four position.

Although time flies by and the game goes on, the greats of the game never leave our hearts. Tendulkar has collectively given us a thousand reason to smile. Thus, if not for anything else, we are still in awe of him for the kind of human being he is.

Sometimes it seems that the Almighty chose him to show us what heights an individual can attain if he remains humble and honest. He has been a role model, both on and off the field. The way he kept himself grounded is simply exemplary for a career spanning over two decades.

We’ve heard a great deal about the man from different mediums, but there are a few interesting stories about him which are not as well known as his other records. Here are four such interesting anecdotes/ stories/ facts about Tendulkar.

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#4 The last tribute to the 22 yards

Tendulkar during his last Test match in Mumbai

We all were glued to our television sets when we saw the Master Blaster pay tribute to the 22 yards for one last time at the end of the 2013 Mumbai Test. In his autobiography, he vividly mentioned about his last meeting with the 22 yards.

After completing the farewell speech, as he was trying to absorb the emotion, Virat Kohli came up to Tendulkar and said, "Paji, you have told me to remind you that you have to go to the pitch". And we all know what happened next, don’t we?

In his autobiography, he mentions that as he went to the pitch, he was completely blank and felt a lump in his throat. In his 15-second visit to the pitch, Tendulkar thanked the 22 yards and said, ‘thank you for taking care of me'. Such simple yet powerful words which showed us the love he had for the game.

#3 The record which was not meant to be

John Wright and Tendulkar

Tendulkar missed out on being the youngest ever centurion in Test cricket by just 12 runs. Yes, you read it correctly. It was due to John Wright. Baffled right? How would the future coach of India have anything to do with the Master Blaster’s century?

All this happened during India's tour of New Zealand in 1990. On the 9th of November, India went on to play the second Test match, after losing to New Zealand in the first Test match by ten wickets. The first day of the second Test match was completely washed out and the game began on the second day.

By the end of the third day, Tendulkar was batting at 80 and was determined to reach the three-figure mark. When the game resumed on following day, he had a wonderful start. He hit Danny Morrison for two boundaries.

The next ball was slightly pitched up and Tendulkar had made up his mind to go for an expansive drive. He played the drive uppishly and was caught by the New Zealand captain, who was none other than John Wright himself. He was dismissed on 88. Later it was told to him that, if he had managed to score the century he would have been the youngest to do so.

#2 The match-winning final over

Tendulkar with the Hero Cup

We are no stranger to the ingenious batting prowess of Sachin Tendulkar. But we have heard very little about the bowling heroics of the man. Cricket fans would immediately recollect his five-wicket haul against Australia and Pakistan when we consider some of his brilliant bowling performances. But many of the cricketing fans are aloof of his bowling heroics against South Africa in the semi-finals of the Hero Cup.

On 24th of November 1993, when India faced South Africa in the semi-finals, the Indian team could only manage 195 runs. Thus, it was clear, if they had to win the match their bowlers needed to get the act together. The fielders needed to save every single run possible and convert those half chances.

The match turned out to be a thrilling contest, courtesy of the superb bowling performance led by Anil Kumble. As the match entered the final over, South Africa needed six runs off six balls. The Indian team had to decide who will be bowling the last six deliveries left in the innings. Tendulkar volunteered to take up the responsibility of bowling the final over.

When he began the over, Brain McMillan was on strike. The first ball was a length ball, and McMillan could only manage a single. In an attempt to take the second run, Fanie de Villiers was run out. The next batsmen to take strike was Allan Donald and what followed was a string of dot balls. However, on the fifth ball, Donald did take a single.

Now, the South African team required four runs to win in the last ball. Before delivering the final ball, he told the wicket Keeper Vijay Yadav to stand back as is usually done for fast bowlers. Now, all those who follow the game must have seen how frequently the inside edges result in a boundary and sometimes that single boundary can change the game.

The same happened on that day, Brian McMillan got an inside edge, But since the wicket-keeper was standing back, the inside edge costed India just the one run and resulted in India winning the match. A lot of credit for that win goes to last ball genius move of the man himself. It was not the just the display of brilliant bowling, but a display of a genius cricketing mind at work.

#1 Witty reply from Sir Don Bradman

Bradman flanked by Warne and Tendulkar

In his autobiography, Tendulkar mentions that 1998 was a special year in his career and cherishes several memories from that year. Scoring a century at Lord’s in the Princess Diana Memorial match is one such memory. Although, not being an official international match, scoring a century at the Lord’s is still his one of the most memorable innings.

We have all heard the story of Warne and Tendulkar meeting Sir Don Bradman. But very few of us know about the witty reply that the Australian legend gave when asked about his average if he would have been actively playing the game during that period.

It was Bradman's 90th birthday. Both Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar got a chance to meet him. During the conversation, Tendulkar asked Bradman about how he would play the game in the modern era and adjust to the changes. The great man replied saying that he didn’t think that he would have made more runs due to defensive field settings.

When asked what would be his batting average if he would play during this period, Bradman replied by saying that he would have managed an average of about 70 runs. To this, both Tendulkar and Warne were surprised and rightly so, as the man averaged 99.94 and now he was talking about a much lesser average. Quite naturally, both enquired further only to receive a witty reply from Bradman. The iconic right-hander quipped - "Well, 70 isn’t bad for a 90 year-old!".