“Dismiss Him and We’ll Win the Match”: Former Pakistan Player On Playing Against This Legendary Indian Batsman

The great Sachin Tendulkar has played many memorable match-winning knocks in his glittering career. It was evident that teams used to plan specially to dismiss him in order to win matches. Against Pakistan, the Indian batting legend played quite a few match-winning knocks, none better than the 98-run knock in the 2003 ODI World Cup clash at Centurion.

During the 1990s, the Indian batting team was so dependent on the Master that his wicket used to be the defining and deciding factor between victory and defeat. A video doing the rounds on the internet has former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali talking about the aura and respect that Tendulkar commanded in the Pakistan dressing room in the 1990s.

Basit Ali says, “He (Tendulkar) was a top-order batsman and I was a middle-order batsman, so we used to see his batting. In our team meetings, our captain at that time, Wasim Akram, used to say everywhere, even during practice, even during meals, ‘dismiss Sachin and we’ll win the match.’ And as soon as Sachin used to get out, Pakistan used to win the match. Even though the great Azharuddin was there, we were not scared of Azharuddin, but definitely frightened of Sachin Tendulkar.”

In 18 Test matches against Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar scored 1057 runs at an average of 42.28, with two hundreds and a highest score of an unbeaten 194. In 69 ODIs against Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar scored 2526 runs at an average of 40.09 and a strike rate of 87.49, with five hundreds and a highest score of 141.