5 shots that showed Sachin Tendulkar's greatness
Everything that can be said about Sachin Tendulkar and his greatness has been said. The backlash against Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul for choosing Virat Kohli over Sachin as the better batsmen shows that the ‘Little Master’ is still ruling over the hearts of Indian cricket fans.
Those of us who grew up in the 1990s find the very thought of Sachin being considered inferior to anyone sacrilegious, if not blasphemous. But let’s not always think of Sachin as being in a contest with Virat Kohli or Vivian Richards or anyone else. Let’s also spend some time fondly remembering the legend that he was and the unmatched display of batting brilliance that he let us savor.
The stroke-play produced by Tendulkar is hard to be matched by anyone. While his trademark straight-drive is imprinted on the minds of all Indian fans, there were some other strokes also, played by him during his career, which proves the greatness of the man.
Let’s dive into the treasure trove of memories and relive those particular shots that could only have been played by Tendulkar and which are the biggest evidence of his genius. These shots were rare and it can be said with some confidence that anyone else would find them hard to replicate.
# Pull off Patrick Patterson
(Watch the shot from 0:13 in the video)
Even among the legendary pantheon of West Indian great fast bowlers who were renowned for their fiery pace, one man is regarded as the fastest – Patrick Patterson. His excessive pace is testified for even by players of his generation, including Jeff Dujon – the man who had the best view and feel for the speeds of many of the great West Indian fast bowlers due to being the wicketkeeper who collected their deliveries behind the stumps.
Now, imagine an 18-year old kid batting against this searing fast bowler, on an Australian wicket, and pulling him with ease for a boundary. It’s like a fairy tale but it indeed happened on 11th January 1992 in an ODI between India and West Indies at Brisbane.
Sachin scored a brilliant 77 while the rest of the Indian batting crumbled around him to let the team be all out for 191. But it was early on in his innings that he played this awe-inspiring shot. When Patterson bowled a slightly short delivery just outside the off stump, Tendulkar pushed his front-foot forward slightly before shifting his balance on to the backfoot and swivelling around to pull the ball over the leg side for a boundary.
He did it with so much ease that you would have thought of Patterson as a medium pacer which he clearly wasn’t. The transfer of weight and the swing of the hips was done so smoothly that one couldn’t help but admire the shot. It was truly a piece of brilliance.