Sachin Tendulkar revealed yesterday that he hadn't slept enough the night before he scored his masterly 148 not out in the Sydney Test against Australia in 1992
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar revealed yesterday that he hadn't slept enough the night before he scored his masterly 148 not out in the Sydney Test against Australia in 1992.
The Sydney Cricket Ground dressing room. Pic for Representation only
"Dada (Sourav Ganguly) was my room partner. I practiced my drills at night because I had to bat the next day. I stayed awake till about 2:30 at night and I was thinking about how I was going to bat the next day.
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I was standing in front of the mirror and practicing, doing my own things and I didn't realise Dada was awake, watching quietly," Tendulkar said amidst laughter at the launch of his autobiography Playing It My Way in Mumbai.
The next morning while opener Ravi Shastri (206) was batting with Sanjay Manjrekar (34) and later with Dilip Vengsarkar (54), the then 18-year-old batting star decided to take a nap in the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) dressing room.
Sachin Tendulkar's daughter Sara touches the feet of Ramakant Achrekar after the batting legend's first coach was presented with the maestro’s autobiography Playing It My Way at a city hotel yesterday
"There is a big dining table in the dressing room so I slept on that table for half an hour or so. I told Dada that if anything happens, wake me up. I needed to rest a little bit to do something special," said Tendulkar.
Indeed, he did something special to become the youngest batsman to score a Test century in Australia on January 5, 1992.
Tendulkar went in at the fall of captain Mohammed Azharuddin's wicket and blazed away. In doyen of commentators Richie Benaud's words, "It was just something else and I have marvelled at it ever since." Benaud rated the Sydney knock better than his counter-attacking hundred in the fifth Test at Perth.
About the night before in the room in which he had to keep awake till 2:30 am, Ganguly exclaimed with a chuckle, "How can one sleep with the lights on so I had to wait for him (to finish shadow practise)."
The big four: Sourav Ganguly (second from left) shares an anecdote as Rahul Dravid (left), VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar react. Pics/Nimesh Dave
In the book, Tendulkar revealed that he was preparing to tackle Aussie pace spearhead Craig McDermott in the hotel room at night.
The Mumbai master scored three Test hundreds in Sydney including a double in 2003-04. He rates it as his favourite ground, a venue where he was honoured by the Bradman Foundation last week.
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