Sachin Tendulkar revealed what Qadir had told him upon his introduction within the attack during an exhibition match in 1989 and the way it spurred him on to launch the bowler for 28 runs in the over.
(Milcah Anila, Intern Journalist)Lucknow News, Vijayawada: Sachin Tendulkar was only 16 years of age when he took on one of the greatest spinners of all time, Abdul Qadir. The former India batsman famously hit Qadir for four sixes in an exhibition match, signaling his arrival in international cricket.
Long before T20 cricket came into the scene, India and Pakistan were involved within the first-ever T20 match way back in 1989, a world match that was trimmed to a 20-over exhibition game.
Tendulkar recalled what happened prior to the match and how the teams agreed to play.
“The match was in Gujranwala, I think. It had rained and both teams were informed that a lot of spectators have come to ascertain so why don’t we have a 20-over exhibition match?” Tendulkar told Aakash Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“We were told that this won’t be a world match but a minimum of the gang won’t return disappointed. So we agreed to play the match thinking we’ll a minimum of getting some practice out of this game. I was batting at No. 4 and that I remember once I had gone bent bat, we had to attain some 65-70 runs in four overs.”
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Even though Pakistan went on to win the match narrowly, it had been India’s Tendulkar that made headlines as he hit Qadir for four sixes in an over. Such an assault was unprecedented, including to someone of Qadir’s stature. The over reading: 6, 0, 4, 6, 6, 6, with Tendulkar remaining unbeaten on 53.
The former India batsman went on to reveal what Qadir had told him upon his introduction into the attack and the way it spurred the good Tendulkar on to launch him for 28 runs in the over.
“Kris Srikkanth was the captain so our discussion was to urge some practice for the subsequent game. I told Chikka ‘I think we should always choose the total’. He said ‘Yes, why not.’ And that’s how I started connecting the shots,” Tendulkar said.
“Mushtaq (Ahmed) was bowling, he got hit for 2 sixes and a four. Abdul Qadir came to me and said ‘I’ll bowl from this side. Try and hit me’. I said you’re such a senior bowler, I can’t hit you that easily. So from there, we started chasing. That was an enormous over, we got some 27-28 runs.”
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