Even though one doesn’t associate Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar with sledging, there were a few instances during the course of his 24-year old international career when emotions got the better of him. Tendulkar, like a plethora of other cricketers before and after him, did sway away from his usual persona to engage in a verbal battle or two to further up his competitive juices.
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One such incident dates back to Australia’s tour of India 2001 in Fatorda, Goa. Bowling all kinds of spin bowling like he used to do during his playing days, Tendulkar and India were in search of quick wickets when the former participated in a skirmish with then Australia captain Steve Waugh.
Tendulkar, who successfully managed to disrupt Waugh’s rhythm, eventually dismissed him to pick his 100th ODI wicket in the same series in which he completed 10,000 runs in the format.
When Sachin Tendulkar Sledged Steve Waugh Before Making Him His 100th ODI Wicket
While what led to an animated discussion between Tendulkar and Waugh remains unknown, it is also difficult to lip-read what the two of them said to each other. That said, the visuals were enough to come to a conclusion that something was wrong between the two legendary players.
As a result, it was on the second delivery of the 35th over when Waugh’s attempt to play a big shot against Tendulkar led to his dismissal. Wanting to slog, all Waugh did was mis-time the ball to Ajit Agarkar at long-on. Fourth Australian batter to be dismissed in a 266-run chase, Waugh was the second batter to be dismissed by Tendulkar at the Nehru Stadium that day.
Tendulkar, who also sent all-rounder Darren Lehmann back to the pavilion in his next over, was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 10-0-35-3 after having failed as an opening batter in the first innings. India, however, ended up losing the match by 4 wickets for not being able to contain an excellent finisher in Michael Bevan.
Waugh Reckoned Sledging Tendulkar Strengthened His Resolve
In his piece for Economic Times in 2010, Waugh had written how the Australian team used to refrain from engaging in a verbal battle with Tendulkar on most occasions. With Waugh reckoning how such battles had it in them to strengthen his resolve, history surely repeated in this context in the name of former India captain Virat Kohli.
“Sachin [Tendulkar] rarely got into verbal duels, and soon we, too, realised that sledging him only helped strengthen his concentration and resolve. No wonder then that some of the most talkative Australians went quiet when Sachin was in the middle. There have been occasions when he did indulge in some chat himself, but on the whole he was quiet, focussed and seriously tough,” Waugh had written.
Readers must note that Waugh and Tendulkar were staunch competitors, who played a grand total of 33 ODIs and 13 Tests against each other between 1991-2004.
