“Tera ho gaya kya? Main jaaon?” - Chandrakant Pandit recalls amusing incident about 13-year-old Sachin Tendulkar’s eagerness to bat

Former India and Mumbai cricketer Chandrakant Pandit has recalled an interesting incident with regard to Sachin Tendulkar’s eagerness to bat in the nets as a youngster. Revisiting the incident from 1986, Pandit revealed that a 13-year-old Tendulkar kept asking him after every 20 minutes whether he was done with his practice.

Tendulkar made his first-class debut in the 1988-89 season before turning 16. Following some sensational performances on the domestic circuit, he was fast-tracked into the Indian team and made his Test debut during the tour of Pakistan in 1989.

The Master Blaster turns 50 on Monday, April 24. To celebrate the occasion, the book Sachin@50 is being released as a tribute. In the book, Pandit recalled his amusing interaction with Tendulkar at the Shivaji Park nets in Mumbai. He wrote:

“This was 1986, and I had just made my India debut. During the off-season, I was at Shivaji Park to practice at sir’s nets. So now, whenever I would go out to bat, I would find Sachin, padding up and standing right behind the nets.

“After every 20 minutes, he would ask, ‘Tera ho gaya kya (Are you done?)? Main jaaon (Should I go?)?’ I would look at him and wonder, ‘Yeh kya cheez hai (Who is this guy?)?’ I would say curtly, ‘Be quiet and let me bat.’ But after 10 more minutes, again, the same query, ‘Are you done?’”

Pandit, now a renowned coach, added that all Tendulkar wanted was to bat, and he didn’t care if it was a senior player [in the nets]. The 61-year-old hailed him for his dedication from such a young age.

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When seniors tried to run out a 12-year-old Tendulkar

In the book Sachin@50, Pandit also shared another interesting incident when he and some other senior teammates tried to run out a 12-year-old Tendulkar.

The coach of the team, Ramakant Achrekar, had ordered Pandit to ensure Tendulkar got a chance to bat in the top five during a 50-over club game. However, Pandit and the seniors were not convinced by the idea and hatched a plot to deliberately run out Tendulkar. The ploy backfired.

Revealing the details of the intriguing incident, Pandit wrote:

“It was 1985, and I had already played for Mumbai and was about to come into the national reckoning. It was just after India’s Benson & Hedges triumph in 1985, and the 50-over game was catching up fast. I was the Kamat Club’s captain, which was run by our Sir (Achrekar). We had a full-fledged match against New Hind Club at the Matunga Gymkhana ground.

“Now, sir came in the morning and instructed me, ‘Chandu, you need to play Sachin, and he should get to bat in the top five. No way you are going to bench him.’ Well, I wasn’t convinced that someone that young, just about 12 years old, could field for 50 overs. Also, it was a senior team’s match, and a few seniors and I were convinced that Sachin’s shots won’t have that power.

“And trust me, even Achrekar sir knew that he needed to generate more power. Since we failed to convince sir, three to four of us decided that whoever gets the first opportunity should run him out as we would need quick runs. Accordingly, when Sachin batted, on my instructions, one of our senior guys tried at least twice to deliberately run him out by calling him for non-existent singles.”

What happened next was even more interesting. Pandit continued:

“Somehow the little one managed to avoid getting out and returned to the crease. But Sachin realised that we were trying to run him out, and what he did next was unimaginable. There was a straightforward single, and he called the other guy and ran him out.”

Concluding his thoughts on Tendulkar, Pandit described the Indian legend as the epitome of passion.