Meet the men who had a ringside view of Sachin Tendulkar’s ‘firsts’

Kailash Gattani and Lalchand Rajput have witnessed two of Sachin Tendulkar’s breakthrough profession moments.

At the age of 14, Tendulkar bought a chance to journey to England for the primary time, representing Gattani’s Star Club of India, whereas a yr later, when Tendulkar made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bombay, Rajput was the captain.

Though his expertise had impressed each Rajput and Gattani, a former Rajasthan quick bowler, neither might think about that Tendulkar would ultimately go on to play 100 Tests and rating 100 centuries in worldwide cricket.

“Raj Singh (Dungarpur) first told me about Sachin and insisted that I take him to England as part of the Star Club of India’s annual tours. Back then, we would scout bright young talents from the country and take them for an exposure tour to the United Kingdom. Sachin was just 14, and I was not sure whether we should take such a young boy on a long tour,” Gattani tells  Sportstar.

He shared his considerations with Dungarpur, who was his captain in the course of the Rajasthan days. And a number of days later, whereas Gattani was in his workplace, he bought a name from Dungarpur, who requested him to succeed in the Brabourne Stadium on the earliest.

By the time he reached the venue, a Harris Shield recreation was underway, and a younger cricketer was batting on the crease. Soon after, the younger batter hit a few fluent drives, which galvanized him. “I did not know who the batter was, but his drives reminded me of Hanumant Singh. Dungarpur was standing near me, so I told him that this young boy bats well. He looked at me with a smile and said, “Oh, you think those are good shots? You liked him?” I stated sure, after which Dungapur once more checked out me and stated, ‘This is Sachin Tendulkar, now are you convinced to take him to England?’ I didn’t know what to reply,” Gattani says.

And, inside a number of weeks, Tendulkar’s paperwork was executed and each Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli boarded the flight to England. “I showed Sachin a few players who they would be up against. They were all top-class cricketers for Yorkshire, and Sachin was a bit nervous about how he would play against them. Sachin and Kambli had sleepless nights, and they were doing drills at the dormitory in a public school,” Gattani reminisces.

Before the tour started, Gattani had given clear directions to all of the gamers that they shouldn’t be seen loitering across the campus after 9 pm. “I went for a round around the campus, and I saw Sachin and Kambli taking a drill. I quietly watched him and then asked him, ‘ Kya kar raha hai, Sachin?’ Sachin told me that since he would be taking on fast bowlers, he wanted to work on his footwork. Such was the keenness of the boys that they were ready to forego their sleep and prepare for the match. That’s something I don’t see in today’s players,” Gattani says.

On that tour, each Tendulkar and Kambli tackled the quick bowlers effectively and have been constant of their performances. “They were dedicated and determined,” Gattani says.

Rajput remembers the Bombay days

A yr and a half later, Rajput, too, had an identical expertise when a 15-year-old Tendulkar made it to the Bombay crew. Coming into the Ranji Trophy after scoring tons of runs in age-group cricket, Tendulkar scored 100 not out on his Ranji Trophy debut in opposition to Gujarat on the Wankhede Stadium.

“He was just 15, and had scored tons of runs at the Cooch Behar Trophy, and that’s why the selectors chose him for the senior Bombay team. He was the youngest in the team and was very shy. We saw him in the nets, and back then, Raju Kulkarni was quick. I would ask him to bowl to Sachin, and he looked at ease and batted confidently. He got a hundred on debut, but nobody knew that he would go on to make it so big after that. He created history and is an institution by himself,” Rajput says.

After the debut recreation in opposition to Gujarat, the Bombay crew travelled to Rajkot. Tendulkar scored 58 within the first innings in opposition to Saurashtra in that recreation. But Rajput remembers an incident earlier than the match that spoke volumes concerning the teen’s dedication. 

“Normally, the team would have breakfast together around 8.30-9 am before leaving for practice. We all waited for Sachin, but he did not turn up. A while later, we found him on the terrace of the hotel, and he was hitting the ball which was tied to a sock. He continued knocking for a while, and when I asked him why he skipped breakfast, Sachin shyly answered, ‘ Practice kar raha tha, breakfast toh baad mein bhi kar sakta hoon…’ that was his level of dedication,” Rajput says.

Despite being the youngest member of the crew, Tendulkar was made comfy. “We never made him realise that he was just 15. We treated him as an equal and that was the culture of Bombay cricket. Everyone was keen on seeing how good a player this guy was. A lot of senior cricketers turned up for his debut match, and Sachin did not disappoint them,” Rajput stated.

“On the eve of his debut game, I told him to play his natural game and just back himself. Still, the pressure would have been there since he was playing at the first-class level for the first time. But as the day progressed, he stamped his class…”

While Tendulkar was shy and would sit in a single nook of the dressing room, he ultimately warmed as much as the senior gamers and would take their recommendation on find out how to deal with stress. And having seen him from shut quarters all through his profession, Rajput believes that it’s his dedication and dedication in direction of the sport that made Tendulkar stand out.

“His world revolved around cricket. There are times when young cricketers get carried away and lose focus, but he never allowed that to happen. He was focused towards his game and never took the easy route. And, that made him what he is today,” Rajput explains.

From being simply one other promising rookie expertise, Tendulkar turned an establishment in his lengthy and illustrious profession, and as he turns 50, each Gattani and Rajput are proud to have had the ringside view of the Master Blaster’s career-defining moments in his early life!