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Former India captain Ravi Shastri recalled one of his matches against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, where he faced a lot of sledging from the opponents alongside cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar. Shastri revealed that the sledging from the Australian players irked Sachin and he even tried to prepare himself for a response.
Shasri recalled his conversation with Sachin Tendulkar in Australia
Shastri added that Sachin came to him and shared his plan to give it back to Australia in the same manner. He further said that he advised Sachin to "shut up" and reply to it all with his batting.
"I remember one at the SCG. It was Sachin's first tour. I had just reached a hundred, and Sachin had just come to bat. And he was being sledged by the Waugh brothers (Steve and Mark). 'You little this, you little that'. And Mike Whitney had come on to the field as a 12th man. I was having a pow-pow with Allan Border until I reached my 100. He took the ball in his hand and said, 'Get back into your crease; I'll break your head'. I turned around there. There were mics, and you could be fined. So I went on the centre of the pitch and I shouted across the SCG, 'Hey Mike! If you can claim to throw as well as you can bowl, you wouldn't be the 12th man of Australia. And that was it," Shastri said at the Summer of Cricket Lunch hosted by Cricket ACT.
"Sachin came to me and said, 'Wait till I get to my hundred. I will also give them some of this'. I told Sachin 'You shut up. You've got enough class; your bat will do the talking. Let me do the talking. And from 100 to 200, there wasn't a word but at the end of the game, they were the first guys in the dressing room with a beer. Play it hard. You've got to be competitive. That's what the crowd respects. That's what the opposition respects," added Shastri.
Sachin Tendulkar's performance vs Australia
Tendulkar played 110 matches against Australia, where he scored 6707 runs, including 20 centuries and 31 half-centuries with a highest score of 241 not-out at an average of 49.68.
Shastri, who was the head coach of Virat Kohli-led India that defeated Australia for the first time on their home soil, represented India from 1981 to 1992. During Shastri's final year of career, young Sachin Tendulkar emerged on the international stage. The cricketing legend made his debut in 1989 and went on to play for India until 2013, becoming one of the most prolific batters in world cricket.
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