Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Why He Initially Thought Batting With "Shy" Virender Sehwag Wouldn't Work

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag combined to become one of the most destructive partnerships at the top of the order in world cricket. The duo together have given nightmares to the top bowlers in international cricket. However, speaking to host Vikram Sathaye on the 'What the Duck 3', Tendulkar has revealed that he initially was a bit cautious about the idea of batting with Sehwag for India. The Indian batting legend said that when Sehwag joined the Indian cricket team, he would not talk to Tendulkar.

Tendulkar and Sehwag made an appearance together on Episode 5 of 'What the Duck 3', where the Indian Master Blaster recalled some fond memories of batting with the Delhi dasher.

"I remember when Viru first joined the team, he would not talk to me. Then I thought this can't work, we need to talk to each other and if we are batting together I need to make him comfortable. So I told him let's go get have some food. Before going, I asked him what he liked. He said 'Paaji, I am a vegetarian'. When I asked why, he revealed that he had been told at home that eating chicken makes you fat," Tendulkar said laughing.

Recalling the moment when he first met Tendulkar, Sehwag said: "When I first met him, he just shook my hand and moved on. I thought to myself that I idolise this person and he just shook my hand and walked away. But later when I was a senior and met new players, I did the same, then I realised you cannot get close to a person before knowing him. I was very shy when I first joined the team."

Tendulkar and Sehwag opened together in 93 ODIs for India, scoring a total of 3,919 runs at an average of 42.13. The duo notched 12 100-run and 18 50-run stands as an opening pair to occupy fourth place in the list of highest opening partnership runs in international cricket.

Incidentally, Tendulkar along with long-time teammate Sourav Ganguly head the list. India's two former captains opened together in 136 ODIs, scoring a whopping 6,609 runs combined at an average of 49.32. Tendulkar and Ganguly notched up 21 100-run partnerships and 23 50-run stands.

Topics mentioned in this article

Sachin Tendulkar Virender Sehwag India Cricket Team Cricket