Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the all-time best batsmen of all-time and is counted amongst the likes of Sir Don Bradman, Brian Lara, and others.

Even Shahid Afridi rates the Indian master blaster a lot and revealed that he felt during his time, the Mumbaikar was the only polished batsman in the Indian team. “In the early days of my career, Sachin Tendulkar was the only man (in India) who looked like a proper batsman. Then emerged Dravid, then Ganguly, and then came a flood of new guys… who were polished with time. But Sachin – he was always polished. I think he was born polished. He had his own style, grandeur, and class,” Afridi writes in his autobiography.

We all know that Afridi made a blockbuster debut in ODI cricket, slamming the then fastest ODI century in just 37 balls against Sri Lanka in his second ODI, but a first outing with the bat. But many might not know that Afridi had borrowed a bat from Waqar Younis for this innings and it turned out to be the bat Waqar got from Sachin Tendulkar.

Afridi writes that Sachin had given his favorite bat to Waqar as a sample to get more bats made in Sialkot, Pakistan’s bat-making hub. However, it found its way into Afridi’s hands and history was made.

“Sachin Tendulkar had given his favorite bat to Waqar Younis and asked for a favor…But guess what Waqar did before he took it to Sialkot? He gave it to me before I went in to bat. So effectively, that first century in Nairobi by Shahid Afridi was made with Sachin Tendulkar’s bat. Go figure,” Afridi writes about his record-breaking innings in Nairobi.

(indianexpress.com inputs)