Former Pakistan international Inzamam-ul-Haq lavished praise on the great Sachin Tendulkar on the 10th anniversary of the historic double century the latter posted in ODIs. Placing the lens of Sachin’s debut series in Pakistan, he explained why the Master Blaster was simply the finest in the cricket globe.
Sachin Tendulkar is more than just a legendary cricketer. It’s a name that floods a plethora of memories into every single observer of the game. Tendulkar is an emotion, a divine figure through which this little world of cricket fostered spiritual oneness. Such was his impact for a couple of decades.
Among the tons of records he crushed, Tendulkar is the recipient of a 100 centuries in international cricket, 200 Test caps, one World Cup and a monumental 34,357 runs at the top level.
One of his many achievements included his double-century off the last ball of the innings against South Africa a decade ago, another day when cricket lovers around the horizons experienced a touch of magic, brilliance and impeccable temperament.
Inzamam-ul-Haq praised Tendulkar’s effort on his YouTube channel and provided four reasons as to why the widely worshipped figure is the greatest ever.
“He was born for cricket. I always believed cricket and he were made for each other. I’m talking about the ever great Sachin Tendulkar,” he began.
The 49-year-old revisited Sachin’s first-ever international series, when the entire world stood witness to the start of something special. He mentioned:
“It still amazes that at a tender age of 16-17, he made his international debut and did such great things. This is only possible by some extraordinary cricketer, in fact, if there is anything above extraordinary then that is Sachin. It’s easier said than done. He was playing against the likes of Waqar and Wasim on his debut at 16 years of age. The kind of cricket he played against that bowling attack was startling.”
ul-Haq also believes Sachin is what he is because of his record, but it was the Indian’s mental strength that particularly stood out.
“He was mentally so, so tough. I’m saying this because when Sachin used to come out to bat, he was always under pressure. I have never seen more fan following of a cricketer than Sachin’s. He had fans all around the world. There was pressure on him to score in every innings.”
Quite surprisingly, ul-Haq, who remains the only Pakistani to register over 20,000 runs in international cricket, proved why Tendulkar was a cricketing genius through his bowling. He concluded:
“He was such a genius cricketer that he could bowl leg-spin, off-spin, medium pace. I had faced many great leg-spinners, never had troubles in reading their googlies but it was only Tendulkar who gave me troubles and got me out many times. I don’t think there has been a player like Tendulkar in cricket, maybe someone in the future who will score this many runs.”
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