When Sachin Tendulkar was destroying Australia in Sharjah in 1998, Desert Storm took a whole new meaning for the world. It no longer referred to the Gulf War for cricket fans. It was now all about the treatment of the Aussie bowlers by one man. 12 years later he conquered Mount 200 and became the first to score an ODI double ton. Not to mention the first to 10,000 ODI runs, 100 international centuries, the list goes on.
Reuters
But every ocean starts with the first drop. The journey of the Master Blaster in the international arena began not on home soil, but across the border in a city called Karachi. November 15, 1989 will forever be a day etched in Indian cricket history. For it was the day Sachin made his Test debut. In fact it was the day he took the field for the first time ever in international cricket. No, he did not get to play his first innings until the next day, a mere 15 runs but international runs nonetheless, but Day 1 was the day he first wore an Indian cap.?
India opted to field first as winter neared and Pakistan spent the first day consolidating. They shut shop on 259/4, meaning it was more about occupancy than scoring. Imagine the nerves of a 16-year-old kid who was taking the field with the likes of Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri as teammates and heavyweights like Javed Miandad and Imran Khan as opponents. There was another man making his debut in the Pakistan side called Waqar Younis, but that is another story altogether.?
Cricinfo
Sachin did his fielding duties diligently. He later did bowl and over which cost 10 runs, but that was just to fill in while the big guns took a breather. It was not anything to right home about, but the boy who only a couple of years back had burst onto the First Class scene was now playing in the big leagues. Time would tell if he would make it or break it.?
Well, the Master Blaster as he came to be known in later years, would make it. Over the next 24 years he would represent India in over 650 international games across formats, score over 34,000 runs and hit exactly a century of centuries. But that is a tale for another day. This is the story of how it all began on one cold day in Karachi when the Mother of All Battles took place in the Land of the Pure.?
Reuters
India would finish with a 0-0 series draw. 15 years later they would win their first Test and Test series on Pakistan soil and yes Sachin would be there. But that day he was just a 16-year-old kid finding place among the men. That kid would become a man, that man would become a legend. The legend of Sachin Tendulkar has left behind a legacy difficult to live up to. However, his story began in Karachi 30 years ago.?