<a href="http://www.mid-day.com/sports/2013/oct/151013-sachin-tendulkar-journey-cricket-career-200th-test-retirement-wankhede.htm" target="_blank"><img alt="Click here for more on MiD DAY's Sachin Tendulkar special" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/oct/sachin-Tendulkar_3.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 82px;" /> </a> We met 32 years ago at the Wankhede Stadium during the Mumbai under-15 trials. Both of us did not make the cut. Next year, we did. <img alt="Jatin Paranjape" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/oct/Jatin-Paranjape.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 678px;" /> Jatin Paranjape We also played against each other in the Giles Shield final and my team (Don Bosco) lost. Shardarshram had a superb team with Vinod Kambli, Mayur Kadrekar and others, but clearly one could see that the leader of that bunch was Sachin. He is very good at getting a team together and backing his players through tough times. Once, he made it very clear to me that I was his first choice for No 3 irrespective of whether Mumbai had a full strength team or not. I don&rsquo;t think he has got enough credit for his captaincy. He has a way with players and you can see the amount of good he has done to Viru, Yuvi, Bhajji, Dhoni and even Virat Kohli&rsquo;s generation. Ask any one of them about this aspect and I guarantee it will be a long conversation. <img alt="Kedar Godbole, Prasad Sutar, Sangram Bhosale, Paras Mhambrey, Vikrant Patil, Abhijit Kale, Chetan Nimonkar, Deepraj Kerkar, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Rao, Mayur Kadrekar, Hemu Dalvi, Jatin Paranjape, Vinod Kambli, Chetan Dhanani, Venkat Kunath and Sairaj Bahutule" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/oct/Sachin-Tendulkar1_3.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 272px;" /> The Mumbai under-17 team in Baroda, 1987: Standing: Kedar Godbole, Prasad Sutar, Sangram Bhosale, Paras Mhambrey, Vikrant Patil, Abhijit Kale, Chetan Nimonkar. Sitting: Deepraj Kerkar, Sachin Tendulkar, M S Rao (assistant manager), Mayur Kadrekar (captain), Hemu Dalvi (coach-cum-manager), Jatin Paranjape, Vinod Kambli. Kneeling: Chetan Dhanani, Venkat Kunath and Sairaj Bahutule From the first time I saw him bat, his judgment of length was impeccable, doing exactly what my father (Vasu) always told me, &ldquo;pudcha ball pudhe, pathcha ball pathi.&rdquo; Sachin has played so many scorchers, so many match-winning innings. &lsquo;Experts&rsquo; who talk about him not winning enough games for India need to go to a vipassana centre to introspect! One of his hundreds in one of the age group tournaments for Mumbai was scored when the matting was so tight that the ball bounced alarmingly. <img alt="Sachin Tendulkar" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/oct/Sachin-Tendulkar2_2.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 720px;" /> A teenaged Sachin Tendulkar. Pics courtesy: &lsquo;The making of a cricketer&rsquo; by Ajit Tendulkar He changed his stance a little, got on his toes, and played a shot a ball. I still remember the sound of the ball on the sandy outfield, whizzing away to the ropes. He tended to get out to full tosses a lot. I also remember his bat (SG Skipper with a fibre face). The middle of that stick had taken a serious beating and he would glue the broken chips together while I had to do that for my outside edge! As a viewer, I remember every shot of his from the 1998 Sharjah knocks. Sadly, I do not remember many from his Herculean double century against Tamil Nadu which helped us get into the Ranji Trophy final in 2000 as I was sitting in the dressing room all the time, given the team&rsquo;s superstitious ways. Even in that game, he kept saying in the dressing room, &ldquo;we will win, just see, we will win.&rdquo; We won, and we had our post-match meal of biryani, and then went out to practice again. That&rsquo;s Mumbai cricket for you.u00a0

Former India ODI player Jatin Paranjape recalls his days with Tendulkar as a junior and senior Mumbai player

Sachin never got enough credit for his captaincy: Jatin Paranjape

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Sachin never got enough credit for his captaincy: Jatin Paranjape

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