"He said why don't you open, I said yeah I would love it" - Sourav Ganguly on memories with Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 50th birthday today (April 24), and wishes have been pouring in from all quarters of the world.
On this momentous occasion, former Indian captain and Tendulkar's long-time ODI opening partner Sourav Ganguly spoke about his first impressions and other memories of the Master Blaster.
Ganguly recalled the first time he saw Tendulkar was during an Under-15 camp in Indore. He said:
"You know the first time I saw him was in the Under 15 camp in Indore long time ago, he used to use very heavy bats then and we spent a month in the camp together training and you could see that he was a special player."
Ganguly then went on to share some of his special memories with Tendulkar, adding:
"Many I think, when he first asked me to open against South Africa in Jaipur, India were not finding an opening batsman and he said why don't you open, I said yeah I would love it and then obviously it was a different story for me in my career and it was the same thing with sachin, he batted number 6 early on in one day cricket and then when they made him open in one day cricket he became a world champion and our partnership started."
Ganguly also wished Tendulkar on the special occasion of his 50th birthday, saying:
"Welcome to the club, I got into the club last year and he is into the club now. Lots of love from me, from my family, because I've known them very very closely for a long period of time. Hope he has a great birthday."
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly hold the record for the most ODI runs as an opening partnership with 6609 runs across 136 innings at an average of 49.32 with a highest partnership of 258.
While Tendulkar scored a record 18,426 runs in his ODI career at an average of 44.83, Ganguly amassed 11,363 runs at an average of 41.02.
"I want to sit at the back of the net and I want to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat" - Ricky Ponting
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting also spoke about his first impressions and memories of Sachin Tendulkar on the latter's 50th birthday.
The duo battled on the field for many years across India-Australia matches before becoming teammates for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2013.
Ponting spoke about how he insisted on watching Tendulkar practice in the nets and said:
"I heard about him, must have been 88/89, I am not sure when Sachin actually debuted, India were touring Australia and I said to our head coach Rod Marsh at the time that I want to be at the ground when India are training because I want to sit at the back of the net and I want to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat."
While recalling his memories of Tendulkar, Ponting picked out the Indian batter's double century in the Sydney Test during the 2003-04 series as the standout moment. The Aussie elaborated:
"Look, I've got so many memories of playing against him, the one thing that probably stands out most for me with Sachin was his mental strength. Remember the test match in Sydney, he had been out caught behind a few times in the series, we had bowled full and wide to him and he nicked couple through the keeper and the slips."
Ponting continued:
"He came out publicly before the Sydney test and said he wasn't going to play a cover drive and we were like well that's not possible because we're going to bowl full and wide and you are going to play a cover drive at some stage, well, i don't think, he might have, once he was about 220, might have been the first time he played, I think he made 240. His strength in mind to not play a cover drive for probably 8 or 10 hours was pretty special."
Tendulkar's unbeaten 241-run knock in Sydney helped India draw the final Test of the four-match series and retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.