The ODI between India and Australia at the Sharjah Cricket Ground is one of the iconic matches of ODI history. India lost the match in the end, but the knock that Sachin Tendulkar played, often known as the “Desert Storm” is still quite fresh in the hearts of cricket fans.
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Tendulkar played a lot of memorable innings throughout his career, but this was one of his best-ever knocks. On a pitch where every Indian batter was struggling against the Australian bowlers, the boy from Mumbai fought single-handedly for the team by smashing the bowlers all over the park.
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Australia scored 284/7, but India got the revised target of 277 runs in 46 overs due to the desert storm. Tendulkar played a knock of 143 runs in just 131 balls with the help of 5 sixes and 9 fours. However, the team lost the match by 26 runs.
When Sachin Tendulkar joked about grabbing Adam Gilchirst to save himself from the desert storm
During the book launch of Boria Majumdar’s Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians, Tendulkar recalled a funny incident from the ODI match between India and Australia in Sharjah. Tendulkar revealed that he could see the desert storm coming towards them, and he was looking for Australian keeper Adam Gilchrist so that he could grab him.
It is well known that Tendulkar is not that great in size, and he thought that he would be blown away by the wind. He said that the target was revised after the storm, and he really wanted to win the match to have that advantage over Australia in the final match.
“It was a special one, a big one because it is something which happened with me for the first time on the cricket field. When I was batting there and suddenly I see this desert storm approaching us, it was like a Hollywood movie and the first thought that came to my mind was ‘Where is Gilchrist?’ Because I thought I would be blown away and I was all prepared to grab him,” Sachin Tendulkar joked.
During the match, Tendulkar had a good partnership with VVS Laxman in the Indian innings. However, Tendulkar revealed that he shouted a couple of times at Laxman while running, and his elder brother, Ajit Tendulkar, scolded him for the same.
