Sachin Tendulkar recalls first meeting with Sir Don Bradman; says "I was nervous, wanted Warne to talk first"

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne had met Sir Don Bradman in 1998 on his 90th birthday.

By - 16 Dec, 2020

Sachin Tendulkar | GETTY

India batting great Sachin Tendulkar had met Australia's Sir Don Bradman back in 1998 with Shane Warne. He recalled the first meeting and said he felt nervous on his way to Bradman's home.

Sachin told Warne to start the conversation and he followed up with him. They were invited by Bradman on his 90th birthday.

"It was a big moment because I still remember from the hotel, Warnie was with me. Warnie was driving and he said 'I am tensed, I am worried, what to talk to him about batting? You're a batter, so you need to talk to him.'

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"I said, 'no, Aussie first'. I told him to start the conversation and I would follow up. So Shane Warne went inside and started talking a little bit.", said Sachin on India Today.

Tendulkar also revealed the question he asked Bradman after meeting him. It was regarding his batting average if he had played in Sachin's era.

"Obviously, the natural question was 'Sir Don, if you were batting in today's era, what would you have averaged?'. He took about 10 seconds to think and said 'maybe around 70'. The obvious reaction was 'why only 70? Why not 99?'.

"He said 'common kid, it's not bad for a 90-year-old man'. That was his response. He enjoyed watching cricket. He was up with the game. Those were special moments," Tendulkar told Boria Majumdar.

Bradman finished his career with an average of 99.94 after playing 52 Tests for Australia and scoring 6996 runs with two triple hundreds, 12 double-centuries, and 29 centuries overall in a 20-year career.