IMAGE: A young Sachin Tendulkar. Photograph: Ben Radford/Allsport/Getty Images
Paying glowing tribute to Sachin Tendulkar, former cricketer Vasu Paranjpe recalled the gutsy manner in which the legendary batsman reached his century on Ranji Trophy debut at the tender age of 15.
Paranjpe, who saw Tendulkar score his maiden hundred against Gujarat in 1988, narrated how he believed in himself instead of instructions from outside.
Tendulkar made his Ranji Trophy debut on December 11, 1988 for the then Bombay team (now Mumbai).
Walking down the memory lane, Paranjpe said, "I still remember his hundred against Gujarat on his Ranji debut. In the morning (before the match) I was talking to him and said it should be your good day."
"He played a square-cut off a left-arm
spinner to reach the hundred. We had advised him not to play against the line and that shot was against the line and he hit it for a four," Paranjpe said at an event organised by the Legends Club on the occasion of Tendulkar's 44th birthday in Mumbai on Monday.
Paranjpe, who had seen Tendulkar in his formative days, said the main difference between him and other youngsters was that he batted in seven to eight nets everyday for extra practice.
"Sachin has played 10,000 more balls than any other boy here. And that was a fact that he used to bat at 7-8 nets at the same time. After one net, he went to other net,” said the 79-year-old former cricketer, who played Ranji Trophy for Bombay and Baroda.
Former India players Madhav Apte, Nari Contractor and Rahul Mankad, son of legendary all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, were also present on the occasion.