Fondly known as the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as the greatest cricketer to have played for India.
Apart from his batting exploits and records, Tendulkar has also earned praises from many for his sharp cricketing brain. No wonder, a lot of modern-day cricketers consider him as a role model and often speak about his influence on them.
Recently, all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, opened up on Tendulkar’s guidance during his international career.
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“Sachin always used to field at mid-on or mid-off and tell me what the batsman is trying to think. He was amazing. He is a legend. He is the best cricketer in the world. He knows what the psyche of a batsman or a bowler is. He used to advice me throughout my career. Whenever I was bowling, he used to always tell me what the batsman is trying to do. He used to tell me, ‘this might happen with this batsman, try this particular ball’. Obviously, having Sachin’s guidance helped me a lot in my international career,” Irfan told Asianet Newsable.
Having made his international debut under Sourav Ganguly's leadership back in 2003, Pathan also played under the likes of Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni at different junctures of his career.
Asked him to pick his best captain, Irfan said: “Look, you know, a lot of people talk about Sourav Ganguly. But, I really enjoyed playing under Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble.”
When questioned how each one of them was different from the other, he explained, “They were all different. Ganguly used to back each and everyone. Rahul Dravid used to be a bit quieter but he used to be very calculative. Anil Kumble was like a fatherly figure. The kind of situation he handled in Australia, especially the Monkeygate scandal (Sydney, 2008), he showed fantastic leadership qualities.”
Irfan Pathan represented India in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is. While the left-armer took 100 wickets in red-ball cricket, he claimed 173 wickets and 28 scalps in ODIs and T20Is. The southpaw also proved his mettle with bat, scoring 1105, 1544 and 172 runs in Tests, ODIs and T20Is respectively.
