India's playing XI in Sachin Tendulkar's international debut: Where are they now?

On the 15th of November 1989, 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut against Pakistan at Karachi. Incidentally, one of Pakistan's greatest-ever fast bowlers, Waqar Younis, also debuted in this Test match.

After India won the toss and elected to field, Pakistan put up a solid first-innings score of 309 and then extended their lead to 452, leaving Sachin Tendulkar's team to chase 453 in around four sessions. Although the Master Blaster scored only 15 runs in the first innings (he was bowled by Younis) and didn't bat in the second, India held on to a comfortable draw.

Sachin Tendulkar became (and still is) India's youngest debutant in Test cricket, and went on to score over 34,000 runs in arguably the greatest career of all time.

In this article, we take a look at where the Indian playing XI in Sachin Tendulkar's debut are now.

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India's playing XI in Sachin Tendulkar's international debut

Sanjay Manjrekar was a regular in the commentary box until the 2019 World Cup

Kris Srikkanth: The dashing opener, who was the captain of the Indian side in this game, had a respectable international career in which he scored over 6,000 runs. Srikkanth went on to become the Chairman of the selection committee and is currently a respected Tamil commentator and pundit.

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Navjot Singh Sidhu: Another big-hitting opener, Navjot Singh Sidhu played 51 Tests and 136 ODIs in his distinguished career. He even hit four consecutive half-centuries in his first four ODI games in the 1987 World Cup.

Since retirement, the 56-year-old has ventured into the realm of politics and currently serves as a member of the Indian National Congress. Sidhu is also famous for his witticisms and charismatic personality on air.

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Sanjay Manjrekar: Manjrekar went on to play for India for 7 years after this game with reasonable success. Since retiring, he has been a vocal presence as a pundit and commentator.

After being sacked by the BCCI reportedly for his comments on Ravindra Jadeja, the 55-year-old recently wrote to the authorities asking to be reinstated for the upcoming 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL).

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Mohammad Azharuddin has been active since his retirement

Mohammad Azharuddin: Azhar took over from Srikkanth as the captain of the Indian team and is one of the country's greatest captains of all time. The wristy right-hander scored over 15,000 runs in international cricket until an ugly match-fixing scandal at the turn of the century cut short his international career.

He has dabbled in politics and also took up a role as the President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association last year.

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Manoj Prabhakar: The all-rounder took 5 wickets in the first innings of this Test match and played for 7 more years in a moderately successful international career. After retirement, he coached the Delhi and Rajasthan first-class teams before undertaking a role in 2015 as the bowling coach of the Afghanistan national team.

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Sachin Tendulkar: What more can be said about Sachin Tendulkar? The God of Cricket played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, scoring 15,921 and 18,426 tuns respectively. In an international career spanning 24 years, the Mumbai batsman shattered almost every batting record that exists to retire as arguably the greatest batsman of all time.

In this Test match, though, Tendulkar scored 15 runs in the first innings - his only contribution apart from 5 overs that went for 25 runs - and bravely took many blows to the body from the fearsome Pakistan pace attack consisting of Younis, Wasim Akram and Imran Khan. All at the tender age of 16.

Sachin Tendulkar was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2019 and has been linked with IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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Ravi Shastri: Shastri was a useful all-rounder but some struggles with injuries and off-field issues ensured that he didn't fulfil his potential as a cricketer. However, since retirement, the 58-year-old has been an incredibly influential figure in Indian cricket, both as a commentator and as a coach.

Ravi Shastri is currently the coach of the Indian cricket team and has formed a fruitful partnership with current captain Virat Kohli.

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Kapil Dev is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders of all time

Kapil Dev: Another player who needs no introduction, the great Kapil Dev's career sadly hit its peak with the 1983 World Cup win. Although his last decade international cricket wasn't as rewarding, with him being removed from captaincy, the all-rounder served as a mentor to many young Indian cricketers.

After retiring in 1994 as the leading Test wicket-taker, the Haryana Hurricane served as the coach of the Indian team until the fixing scandal. Dev makes frequent appearances as a pundit on TV.

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Kiran More: The wicket-keeper came in as low as No. 9 in this Test match in an age where glovemen were picked for their skills behind the stumps rather than in front of them.

More was dropped from the Indian team towards the end of 1993 and like other players on this list, served as the Chairman of the selection committee. He was appointed as the coach of the USA national team in July 2019.

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Arshad Ayub: Ayub picked up over 200 wickets in around 90 international games for India in a relatively short international career when compared to the other players in this XI. The off-spinner has been active as a coach and even served as the manager of the Indian cricket team for a period in 2010.

Ayub has opened an academy in his hometown of Hyderabad and has taken up leadership roles in the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

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Salil Ankola: The pacer made his debut in this game alongside Sachin Tendulkar but sadly, this was the only Test that he played in his brief international career. Injuries soon forced Ankola into retirement.

Since hanging up his boots, he has become an actor and has appeared in various Bollywood movies, reality shows and TV serials.