Feb. 9: When Sachin Tendulkar was entering the records books with his maiden century in Old Trafford in 1990, Anil Kumble had a specific role to play: He was told not to move and stay standing at the same place.
“I was fortunate to play with Sachin and I was there at Old Trafford when he scored his first Test century. I was on the dressing room balcony and there is a superstition in cricket and Rahul will vouch for that. Kiran More told me `Sachin is batting well so you better keep standing’, and I stood all the while, getting a small break for tea and I stood all along till he scored his century and the match was saved,” recalled Kumble at the release of the book SACH, Genius Unplugged on Tendulkar.
In a lighter vein he added, “I was a bit envious of Sachin, I mean he could just roll his arm over and bowl a perfect leg-break or a googly while I was struggling to spin it!”
The book is a compilation of essays by journalists and cricketers from all over the world and is edited by Suresh Menon, a cricket writer himself. The book was released by the genius’ long-standing team-mate Rahul Dravid. Both Kumble and Dravid are the select few who have played more than 100 Tests with the Little Master.
Dravid makes an interesting note about Tendulkar’s work ethic. “By the age of 16 he (Tendulkar) had hit more cricket balls than I had at 25,” he writes in the book, which contains interesting anecdotes about Tendulkar.
Muttiah Muralitharan, who has penned the foreword, has one big regret: that of not being able to share a dressing room with the batting legend.