Sachin Tendulkar is one of the most complete batters in the history of the game. The man who is the all-time highest scorers in ODI and Test formats has narrated stories when he felt nervous before the game. The most recent one was revealed by former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad.
Tendulkar's 'desert storm' innings is considered one of the most iconic knocks in ODI cricket. Gaekwad revealed that Tendulkar was so nervous before the 'perform or perish' situation that he was sweating profusely in the team bus.
"If we won, only then could we play the final. It was a difficult situation. Australia was also very strong. We would go out for the match at 11AM and Sachin and I sat next to each other in the same bus. He held my hand. He was sweating. I asked him, 'What's wrong? What happened to you? Don't take pressure. It was okay if you didn't score a hundred. I told him just to play. But it was actually a good sign," Gaekwad said on the show 'Mid-wicket Tales' on YouTube.
While Tendulkar was nervous before the game, he did not seem like it while holding the bat. Tendulkar destroyed one of the most lethal attacks of the era. He went after legendary Shane Warne, Damien Fleming, Tom Moody and Michael Kasprowicz. With his 143-run knock, he could not help India win the game but qualify for the final where he scored another century to win the trophy.
"He had total control. He knew where to hit the ball and he did that. He made a 100 runs, it was out of this world. I have not seen anything like that. Elevation was correct, shots were correct, and with so much confidence," Gaekwad added.
Earlier, Tendulkar had revealed that he was very nervous before India's clash against Pakistan in World Cup 2003. The night before the game he could not sleep a wink. He missed out on a century but registered a match-winning 98 in the run chase against a lineup that had legendary Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and express pacer Shoaib Akhtar.
