'Do not run Sachin Tendulkar out': Aaron Finch on what he was thinking while opening the batting with the 'Master Blaster'
Australian limited-overs captain Aaron Finch revealed that he was only thinking about not running Sachin Tendulkar out when they opened together for the MCC XI at Lord's. He added that he was afraid he may not be able to get out of the stadium if he had done the unthinkable.
On the latest episode of the show 'Sony Ten Pit Stop', Aaron Finch shared his experiences of playing alongside Sachin Tendulkar and the other greats of the game in the match to mark the bicentennial anniversary of the Lord’s Cricket Ground.
On being asked what he was thinking while going out to open the innings with Sachin Tendulkar, Aaron Finch revealed that the only thing on his mind was not to run the Indian batting maestro out.
"All I was thinking was - 'Do not run him out, just do not run Sachin out'. I think it was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, crowd that Lords had ever had. It was a huge anniversary. Sachin is captaining one team and Warne is captaining the other. That was a huge, huge day."
He added that there was a huge Indian presence in the crowd who had come to see Sachin Tendulkar bat.
"And there was a huge Indian presence at the ground. They were very loud, the chance of watching Sachin at Lord's. And I was just thinking that if I run him out, I may not be able to get out of Lord's."
Aaron Finch was grateful that he got the opportunity to bat alongside some of the all-time greats of the game in Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
"That was an unbelievable experience of batting with Sachin, Dravid, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul."
He also recollected Adam Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag opening the batting for the Rest of the World XI, two of the most destructive batsmen world cricket has seen.
"Also on the other side was Gilly and Sehwag opening the batting, that is an absolute dream for me to watch them bat together. KP was there, Yuvi got a big hundred as well. It was such a great day, something I will never forget."
Aaron Finch on the conversations with Sachin Tendulkar in the middle
Aaron Finch was also asked about the conversations he had with Sachin Tendulkar in the middle. He responded that both Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara were very eager to perform well even though it was not an international match.
"It was good fun. All sportsmen are extremely competitive and no one wants to be shown up. When you talk about all-time great players, you had Sachin and Brian Lara batting in the top three. They are still very competitive people, they were switched on, they were very keen to do well."
He added that all the conversation was about cricket and expressed his delight at having got the opportunity of playing alongside Sachin Tendulkar.
"So all the chat was about cricket. And if Tino Best is bowling 90 miles per hour bouncers at you, your heart rate gets up and Sachin was the same. It was brilliant and it was great fun to play with him."
The MCC XI had taken on the Rest of the World XI (ROW XI) in a match to celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of the Lord’s Cricket Ground. While the MCC XI was captained by Sachin Tendulkar, the ROW XI was led by Shane Warne.
Batting first, the ROW XI had piled on a huge score of 293/7 in their allotted 50 overs, with Yuvraj Singh smashing 132 runs.
In reply, MCC XI chased down the target easily with Aaron Finch blasting an unbeaten 181 runs. He shared a 107-run opening partnership with Sachin Tendulkar (44 runs) and a second-wicket partnership of 67 runs with Brian Lara (23 runs).