Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Why He "Had To Beg And Plead" Ahead Of ODI Against New Zealand In 1994

Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian batting legend has played 200 Test matches and scored 100 international hundreds during his 24-year-long cricket career. While Sachin Tendulkar has majority of the batting records to his name, initially in his career, Sachin Tendulkar had to beg and plead to get a chance to bat at the top of the order. Sachin Tendulkar took to LinkedIn to share a video, in which the former India cricketer recalled an incident from 1994. In the video, Sachin Tendulkar revealed that ahead of an One-Day International in Auckland back in 1994, he had to beg and plead to open the innings.

"I thought I could go up front and take the opposition bowlers on. But I had to beg and plead to please give me a chance. If I fail, I won't come after you again," he added.

Sachin Tendulkar started his career as a middle-order batsman but later turned one of the best opening batsman in the limited overs cricket.

Tendulkar went on to score 49 ODI centuries, which is a world record in the 50-over format till date.

Tendulkar also emphasised that his approach up front was slightly out of the box as teams used to send openers who could save wickets initially. However, Tendulkar's approach was to attack to the bowlers from the first ball.

"In 1994, when I started opening the batting for India, the strategy used by all teams was to save wickets. What I tried to do was slightly out of the box," Tendulkar said.

Using that move as an example, the prolific former batsman urged his fans to never shy away from taking risks because of the fear of failure.

"In that first match (against New Zealand at Auckland), I scored 82 off 49 balls, so I didn't have to ask again if I would get another chance. They were keen for me to open. But what I'm trying to say here is, don't be afraid of failure," the 46-year-old Tendulkar said.

After moving from middle-order to the opener's slot, Sachin Tendulkar had to wait for five innings before he managed to cross the three-figure mark.

He recorded scores of 82, 63, 40, 63 and 73 in his first five innings as an opening batsman. The former opening batsman scored his maiden hundred against Australia in Colombo.

Sachin Tendulkar ended his ODI career with 18,426 runs in 463 matches at an average of 44.83.

(With PTI inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Sachin Tendulkar New Zealand Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Cricket