Former Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is one of the most successful, respected, and revered cricketers in the world by not only the fans but also his teammates and especially his opponents.
Australia's former captain Steve Waugh has seen the man from close quarters and played against him. Waugh was the opposition captain when Tendulkar played his most-talked-about Test knock - an unbeaten 241 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 2003-04 series which was devoid of the cover drive shot.
Cricket Australia recently released a video on their official Twitter account about Waugh speaking about the Master Blaster. He started off by reliving his memories of a young 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar facing Australian speedsters at the WACA in Perth in the 1991-92 series and scoring a ton on what was considered to be the fastest wicket at that time.
He mentioned that the Australians knew 'he was special' after that century in Perth.
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Waugh went onto the more technical aspects as well talking about the way Tendulkar attacked the bowlers and also kept the fielders under pressure with his quick running between the wickets.
He then shifted to the back-to-back special ODI hundreds in Sharjah against a strong Australian side. He revealed how incompetent the Aussie side seemed to be against the great man playing his world-famous 'Desert Storm' innings in 1998 Coca Cola Cup and following it up with another hundred on his 25th birthday.
The 55-year-old then came to the 241* innings at Sydney. He revealed that his side thought Tendulkar had a problem with the ball coming into him and got him out driving through the covers a couple of times.
They had planned a similar strategy in Sydney but Tendulkar's determination meant that he played that shot 'zero' times in that innings.
Watch the video here:
'Straight away you knew he was special'
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 5, 2021
Cracking insights from Steve Waugh into his encounters with India legend Sachin Tendulkar! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/ycTtkV9N8K