'If I knew it was Sachin Tendulkar, maybe I wouldn't have appealed': Monty Panesar on his first Test wicket

Former England bowler Monty Panesar has stated that on his Test debut, he forgot that he was bowling to the great Sachin Tendulkar in the heat of the moment. Panesar also said that if he had known who was at the other end, he might not have appealed.

The left-arm spinner trapped Sachin Tendulkar in front of the stumps on Day 3 of the first Test of England's tour of India in 2006. The wicket was his first in Test cricket, and Panesar even went on to snare Rahul Dravid in the second innings of the same match.

Speaking on the Monty Panesar and the Specialist Fielders podcast, the former Sussex spinner talked about his debut Test, and how Sachin Tendulkar reacted to the dismissal.

“I felt like I was on top of the world. I remember when Aleem Dar gave it out, I just couldn’t believe it. When you play cricket you have these instincts, if there’s a batsman that comes down the wicket you just naturally drop it short, it’s just instinct. The same thing happened when I appealed," said Panesar.

“His pads are really wide, and I can’t see the stumps, the only thing I can see is his pads and I’m just going to appeal. I didn’t know it was Sachin Tendulkar at the other end. It was just heat of the moment, just instinct. If at the time I knew it was Tendulkar maybe I wouldn’t have appealed,” he added.

---

'Never again': Sachin Tendulkar to Panesar

Sachin Tendulkar in action against England

Monty Panesar even revealed what Sachin Tendulkar had to say at the end of the match, and stated that the Master Blaster was gracious enough to sign the match ball for him.

“After the match, the physio said, ‘Sachin is happy to sign the ball.’ I was like ‘Oh my, this guy is an amazing human being.’ That was really kind because there’s a lot of sportspeople out there who don’t really think how joyous that moment is for another individual. But he said, ‘yeah, I’ll sign the ball for you’. After he signed it, he said, ‘once in a blue moon mate, never again.’”

Monty Panesar played 50 Tests for England, and picked up 167 wickets with 12 5-wicket hauls. Sachin Tendulkar, on the other hand, retired from the sport as the man with the most runs, matches, and centuries in the longest format of the game.