Fondly known as the ‘master blaster’, former Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters in the history of the game. Tendulkar holds the record for most runs in Tests and ODIs and has also scored the most centuries in international cricket (100).
Courtesy of his dream run in domestic cricket, he made it to Team India in less than a year after his Ranji Trophy debut. He made his debut against Pakistan in 1989. The youngest Indian to play Test cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was only 16 years old back in 1989 when he made his India debut.
Sachin made his debut on the tour to Pakistan and he had to endure a lot in the very game itself. The master blaster, recently, revealed that Pakistan great Javed Miandad tried to unsettle him in his maiden Test series after he was hit on the nose by a bouncer.
During his first series, a bouncer from Waqar Younis hit Sachin on his nose. Instead of walking off the field, he decided to continue to bat and helped the visitors draw the game.
“My first tour of Pakistan, we were playing the fourth Test, and we had drawn the first three. In the last innings of 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.” Tendulkar was quoted as saying.
‘He was nudging me’- Sachin Tendulkar
“Naturally, the game stopped. Pakistan players realised that it was a crunch 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’ (Your nose is broken, you will have to go to the hospital).”
“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 dressing room and I continued batting there. We drew the Test and we drew the series which meant a lot.”
