Former Haryana off-spinner Yogendra Bhandari extracted a great deal of pleasure in being on a ground with Sachin Tendulkar after 22 years.
It was Bhandari (43), who dismissed the destructive Tendulkar in the second innings of the 1991 Ranji Trophy final at Wankhede Stadium in May 1991 .
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Yogendra Bhandari
The star-studded Mumbai team were set a 355-run target by the Kapil Dev-led side and Tendulkar was in full flight with centurion Dilip Vengsarkar at the other end. They had put on 134 for the fourth wicket.
"That was a very aggressive innings from Sachin. Suddenly Jaddu (Ajay Jadeja) came to me from the covers and advised me to bowl a flighted delivery outside off stump. Jaddu said Sachin would hit it through the covers and that's exactly what happened.
He was caught in that region by Jaddu for 96 off the very next ball. He is an amazing player to watch. I always loved watching him bat against the spinners." Bhandari told MiD-DAY. He added: "He was playing on his own terms that day.
He was hitting us all over the ground and reached 96 within no time. I was lucky to get him," said Bhandari, who had his 1991 Ranji Trophy-winning team members for company here yesterday.
Haryana ended up winning by just two runs and Vengsarkar's wondrous century went in vain. Chetan Sharma, the former India and Haryana pacer, pulled Bhandari's leg: "I think that was a full toss, but it changed the match because Sachin was in a destructive mood.
We were happy he didn't score big in the first innings when I trapped him leg before for 47. That was a wonderful knock as well."u00a0
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