One would hardly see or hear the Australian Cricket team players, past or present, stand together in unison to appreciate a player from rival international teams. While at present it is arguably India’s former captain Virat Kohli, earlier it was the legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar.
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One of Australia’s all-time greats, leg-break bowler late Shane Warne, used to hold Tendulkar in great reverence despite having emerged as his greatest nemesis throughout his career.
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During the first Test match of Australia’s tour to India in 1997/98 at Chennai, having dismissed Tendulkar at the score of 4 in the first innings, Warne was taken to the cleaners by him in the second innings, as the ‘Master Blaster’ constantly hit him against the spin to score 155 runs off mere 191 deliveries. The innings paved way for a famous India win, which also handed the Aussies their first loss after 14 consecutive Test victories.
Later, in his autobiography, Warne had mentioned how he had nightmares about Tendulkar coming down the wicket towards him that day.
Shane Warne ate his words from year 1998
Twelve years later, during the third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2010, Warne ate his words back pertaining his aforementioned comment, and stated that the same was made in a lighter vein.
“I want to clarify that the nightmare thing was a joke. Sachin is the best batsman of my time and I have enjoyed the challenge of bowling to him. But I am not scared of him,” Warne had remarked.
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Regarding the aforementioned innings played by Sachin at Chennai, Warne had also stated that he had played him better than anybody else. He went on to add that there are many Indian batters who pick up the length quite early even if the ball is flighted above the eye-line. However, Tendulkar somehow managed to move into perfect positions to hit the ball better than even Mohammad Azharuddin.
