Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar recalled an incident from his debut Test series against Pakistan in 1989 when he was subjected to sledging by the legendary Pakistani batter Javed Miandad.
Tendulkar had made his India debut in Pakistan at the age of 16 and impressed one and all with his courage in the way he tackled the fiery pace attack of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Imran Khan.
During the fourth Test of the series in Sialkot, Waqar’s fiery bouncer hit Tendulkar flush on the nose breaking it, but the then-teenage Tendulkar decided to continue batting and helped Team India draw the match along with Manoj Prabhakar.
Recalling the incident, Tendulkar revealed that Pakistan's Javed Miandad tried to sledge him right after Waqar's bouncer hit him on the nose and he was bleeding.
Sachin Tendulkar recalled at an event organised by Infosys: “My first tour of Pakistan, we were playing the fourth Test, we had drawn the first three. In the last innings of the fourth Test, we were some 36/4 down. I got hit off a bouncer from Waqar Younis on my nose, I wasn’t used to wearing a grill and my face was exposed to the blow. I broke my nose and I was bleeding.”
The legendary batter continued, “Naturally, the game stopped. Pakistan players realised that it was a crunc moment. Had I walked off, they would’ve been in a dominating position. They wanted to finish the game and they wanted to win. In that buzz around me, Javed Miandad — we all know how he can be — he was nudging me and said, ‘Tera naak toot gaya hai, tere ko hospital jaana padega’ (You have broken your nose, you will have to go to the hospital).”
Tendulkar then said that the Pakistan skipper Imran Khan intervened and asked Javed to leave Sachin alone.
He concluded, “Imran tells him, ‘Javed leave him alone’. I continued batting. That was one moment where I felt that an injury like that can make or break you. I’m glad I did not walk to the dressing room and I continued batting there. We drew the Test and we drew the series which meant a lot.”
(With Indian Express Inputs)
