“He was still not wearing a visor” - Sachin Tendulkar’s brother Ajit revisits incident of cricket legend being hit on the nose

Sachin Tendulkar’s elder brother Ajit has stated that he was not surprised with the batter’s decision to continue playing despite being hit on the nose during his debut Test series in Pakistan. Ajit asserted that Sachin always loved taking responsibility.

A child prodigy, Sachin made his Test debut at the age of 16 during the tour of Pakistan in 1989. As is widely known by now, in the last Test match of the series at Sialkot, Sachin got hit on his nose by a delivery from Waqar Younis (who also debuted in the same series) and was bleeding.

The youngster, however, showed courage and batted on. He went on to compile a defiant half-century to help India draw the Test. Revisiting the incident, Ajit wrote in the book Sachin@50:

“After the first two Tests, I went to Pakistan to watch him play. My elder brother Nitin first suggested I go there to be with Sachin since he was too young and in a foreign land. In the last Test match of the series at Sialkot, Sachin got hit on his nose. I had heard the sound of the ball hitting his helmet flap and nose and could see he was bleeding. But somehow, I felt he would continue.

“Even before his debut, Sachin had already got a taste of the challenges he would face if he was to play Test cricket.” Ajit added. “He loved taking responsibility; going off at that point would mean putting the team in trouble. I was sure he wouldn’t do that. And it so happened that he decided to continue. What went unnoticed was that he was still not wearing a visor when he decided to continue. It meant he could again get hit on the same spot.”

Sachin’s brother stated that the cricketer was never scared of getting hit by the ball. Concluding the story about the Sialkot Test, he wrote:

“The pain did not seem to divert him from his responsibilities towards his team. During the tea break in that Test match, I remember going up to him to check on him. I could see a tape around his nose, and all I said was, ‘It’s okay, carry on.’ He didn’t really seem fussed.”

India were in trouble at 38/4 in the second innings of the Test match, but Sachin (57) and Navjot Sidhu (97) featured in a rescue act, adding 101 for the fifth wicket.

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“Sachin was admired by purists and fans alike” - Ajit Tendulkar

While Sachin went on to break most batting records in an illustrious career, more than stats, Ajit is pleased with the fact that his brother is admired by both purists and fans.

In the book, he wrote:

“Now that he is done with his career, I feel good mainly about two things. Firstly, very rarely do you see a cricketer admired by both—purists, who look at the technical aspects of batting and fans, who look at how exciting batting is.

“Sachin, fortunately, was admired by purists and fans alike. Most found his style of cricket attractive. And they loved watching him play. The second thing was his ability to look for playing a variety of shots, experimenting with bowling and keep on improving. The type of deliveries which had hit his body during the tour of Pakistan was later dispatched for sixes.”

Sachin turns 50 on April 24. The cricket legend played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, scoring 15921 and 18426 runs respectively. He is the only batter to date to have notched up 100 international hundreds.