Tendulkar reminisces chat with Shastri that helped him overcome debut Test failure in Pakistan

Only 16-year-old at the time, Sachin Tendulkar made just 15 on Test debut in Karachi.

By Kashish Chadha - 26 Apr, 2020

After an excellent start to his first-class career for Mumbai, a 16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar was picked to play for India on the historic 1989 tour to Pakistan, where on debut in Karachi, the prodigious young talent failed in his only innings of the game, making just 15 before being dismissed by Waqar Younis. 

Tendulkar remembers feeling dejected and dispirited at the time, thinking he might never represent his country at the highest level again. 

Read Also: Saqlain recalls moment of realisation, "never to sledge Tendulkar again"

Yet, in November 2013, the man retired as the game's highest run-scorer in Test cricket after a glorious 24-year-long run. 

"I was clueless, I have to admit that. I played the first Test as if I was playing a school match," the Master Blaster told Nasser Hussain during the 'Nasser meets Sachin' episode on Skysports.

"Wasim and Waqar were bowling quick, and they were delivering short balls and all sorts of intimidating things they could do. I had never experienced anything like that, so the first outing wasn't a pleasant one."

"Occasionally, I got beaten by their pace and bounce, and when I got out on 15, I felt embarrassed when I walked back to the dressing room," he added. 

"I was like 'what have you done, why did you play like this' and then when I reached the dressing room, I went straight to the bathroom, and I was almost in tears."

Then an inspiring chat with his teammate at the time, Ravi Shastri, led to an amazing turnaround. "I felt I was completely out of place. I looked at myself and questioned myself and said: 'looks like this is gonna be your first and the last outing'. I felt that I'm not good enough to play at this level. I was upset and feeling low."

"I still remember the conversation I had with Ravi Shastri. Ravi said, 'you played as if it was a school match. You are playing against the best bowlers; you need to respect their ability and their skill'."

"Then I told Ravi that I got beaten by their (Pakistan bowlers) pace. To which Ravi said: 'That happens to quite a few, you don't worry. You just look to go out and spend half an hour in the middle and then you will get adjusted to their pace, and everything will fall into place after that'."

As it happened, Tendulkar scored a quality half-century in the next Test at Faisalabad and came out of that tour with confidence that he belongs to the top-level. 

"When I was picked to play in the second Test at Faisalabad, the only thing on my mind was, I'm not gonna look at the scoreboard. I will only look at the clock and not worry about scoring runs."

"I batted for half an hour, and I felt really comfortable and I scored 59 runs in that match and after that things started changing," he added. 

(Inputs from PTI)

By Kashish Chadha - 26 Apr, 2020

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