'Sachin Tendulkar is not only a great player, but a great human being too', says Waqar Younis
Former Pakistan great Waqar Younis praised the humility of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar, emphasizing that it was (and it is) this particular quality trait makes people of all ages like and follow him.
According to Younis, the way Sachin Tendulkar managed his career despite enjoying a God-like status in India was commendable.
“Tendulkar is not only a great player, but a great human being also. I mean, keeping aside his Test records and one-day records, as a human being and because of his qualities, people of all ages like him,” Younis said during a chat show for Q20, GloFans.
“He is a very humble man and everyone has seen his achievements and has seen him performing on the field. Overall, full marks to him for the way he has handled his career,” Younis added.
Younis rates Sachin Tendulkar's knock in the 2003 World Cup as one of the Indian legend's best efforts with the bat
In the 2003 World Cup match against Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar destroyed the opponent’s bowling attack and helped India chase 275 runs. Rolling back years to that game, Younis hailed that knock as one of Sachin Tendulkar’s best over the years.
“Tendulkar’s innings against Pakistan in 2003 is hard to be described in words because he played so well and especially because India was under pressure on that day and we were good at bowling. So that innings! Probably even if you would ask Tendulkar about this he might also say the same thing, that it was probably one of his best. The way he faced Shoaib, Wasim and me under pressure and the way he attacked and got early runs, I think it was amazing and one of the best innings I’ve seen,” Younis said.
Notably, Sachin Tendulkar and Younis Khan made their debut in the same match. Sachin Tendulkar went on to play 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and a solitary T20I, while Younis featured in 87 Tests and 262 ODIs for Pakistan.