From The Vault: When Sachin’s Determination & Sidhu’s Dedication Became An Inspiring Reminisce

Bhubaneswar: Though we have seen Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu nowadays as a robust politician, his determination and dedication to cricket have made him so strong. In the 90s he was known as the killer against spin attack, famously known as ‘Sixer Sidhu’.

Though many young cricket fans have seen him on laughter shows or political rallies, the right-handed opener had a brutal history on the cricket grounds.

And another person does not need any introduction because he is known as the god of Cricket. Yes… we are talking about Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who never spoke much on the ground or any public place because his bat speaks.

That was a day to remember… The 16-year-old Tendulkar made his debut against Pakistan on November 15, 1989. India was facing Pakistan at Sialkot and the master blaster was brought in to play against fast bowlers like Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, and Wasim Akram.

In the fourth Test at Sialkot, India were tottering to save a Test match with four wickets down for 38 runs. Only Sidhu was the surviving batsman on the crease and Sachin came to bat.

Waqar Younis slammed the ball in the middle of the wicket. The ball hit squarely on Tendulkar’s nose. He fell down and was bleeding profusely. There was a deep cut and Sachin started bleeding, which left him dazed.

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Indian physio, Ali Irani ran towards him for his help. Non-striker Navjot Singh Sidhu also ran to his rescue. When everybody was waiting for Sachin Tendulkar to be carried out on a stretcher, he spoke those two words that defined Indian cricket for the next two decades.

Tendulkar told his physio and Navjot Singh Sidhu that he wouldn’t go out for treatment. He said ‘main khelega’ in his broken Hindi.

He put some water on his face and said he was fine. The gritty Tendulkar got up and hit the next ball by Waqar Younis for 4 runs.

The youngster’s guts shell-shocked Sidhu! Well, India ended up saving face as the match came to a draw and Sachin ended up scoring 57 not out and Sidhu scored 97 not out! The duo surely saved the day and the tie.

Now Sidhu is a senior politician and critic but such an incident on the ground made him understand that life is all about your guts which means you have to implement each and every factor to get success. On that day, he understood that this player was not just another player, he was fearless, he would not back down and he was something the world had not seen before.

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