Indian cricket legend, Sachin Tendulkar revealed a 1989 incident concerning Pakistan’s decorated ex-captain, Javed Miandad. Sachin made his India debut in 1989 during a Test series against Pakistan.
He was only 16 and had produced impressive outings for India in the Test series, but in the fourth Test, Sachin faced a severe nose injury from a bouncer off Waqar Younis. But later, Sachin Tendulkar braved the injury and continued to bat. He recalled Javed Miandad’s comment right after he was injured by the bouncer.
Tendulkar recalled the incident about Miandad and narrated the story at the event organized by Infosys. He said,
“Naturally, the game stopped. Pakistan players realized 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’.”
“Imran tells him, ‘Javed leave him alone’. I continued batting. 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 the dressing room and I continued batting there. We drew the Test and we drew the series which meant a lot,”
Sachin Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest batters in cricket history. Commonly known as the ‘master blaster’, Sachin holds the record for most runs in Tests and ODIs. He also scored the most centuries in international cricket (100).
He made his test match debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen. Sachin was honored with the Arjuna Award in 1994 and the Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour, in 1997.
