How is it true that Sachin Tendulkar as good as Gavaskar? He is not yet 16, but Sachin Tendulkar already had an impressive pedigree in schoolboy cricket when he scored a hundred on his first-class debut. Shirish Nadkarni describes the credentials of a possible Indian Test star of the future. A brilliant unbeaten century for Bombay against Gujrat on his Ranji debut, followed by scores of 58 and 89 in his next two innings for Bombay; an aggregate of 247 from three innings, for an average of 123.50 in his first two Ranji matches, and all this at the tender age of 15 years and seven months, making him the youngest centurion on his debut in the history of the Indian national championship.
Such was the impact he made in his first season of first-class cricket that former Indian Test players such as Ajit Wadekar were suggesting that he should be selected for the Indian tour of West Indies. If this is the rate at which Sachin Tendulkar is going to be setting cricketing records, he may even end up putting the great Sunil Gavaskar in the shade.
The slim, fair-skinned, tousle-headed, brown-eyed lad, whose feats with the willow during the last cricketing season saw him create world records that may never be broken, is already being talked about as being better than Gavaskar was at the same age. After all, Gavaskar was not called up for Ranji duty until he was out of his teens, whereas Sachin will only celebrate his 16th birthday on April 24.
Until this point, the comparison runs very much in his favor; but otherwise, it is invidious, since Sachin Tendulkar is an attacking batsman, whereas Sunny was a master of classical defensive technique. Last year, young Tendulkar drew a huge and appreciative crowd whenever and wherever he batted. In April 1988, for example, the lad contributed an unbeaten 346 to his school team’s total of 590 in the Harris Shield (under-19 schoolboys) final at the venerable Brabourne Stadium against Anjuman-i-Islam.
Then, as if to show that he had as much stamina as powers of concentration, Tendulkar, who was leading the Shardashram (English) side, came out the same afternoon, to send down 22 consecutive overs of medium pace and occasional leg-spin, when Anjuman batted. In all, he sent down 52 overs (28 of which were maidens) in the scorching Bombay heat and claimed four of the eight wickets to fall. It was hardly his fault if a loophole in the rules enabled Anjuman to stonewall until the scheduled four days of the match were over so that they could be declared joint champions with Shardashram.
It was the latter’s third successive triumph in the tournament, and Sachin Tendulkar has played a big part in all three. That unbeaten triple hundred in the final—his second in consecutive games—had seen his aggregate for five games in the Harris Shield swell to an unbelievable 1,028 runs. His run of scores – all notched up from the number four position in the batting order, read 21 not out, 125, 207 not out, 329 not out, and 346 not out. And since he was dismissed just once in the course of this purple streak, his aggregate was also his average!
This figure has yet to be officially ratified as a world record, but there is another mark that has been confirmed as an entry in the Guinness Book: the unbroken third wicket partnership of 664 between Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli (who got an undefeated 348).
That is the world’s highest. What is additionally amazing is the fact that the two rattled up the runs in just over five hours at well over a hundred runs per hour. They simply tore the St. Xavier’s Fort attack to smithereens, enabling their side to declare at 748 for two wickets, who then bundled out the opposition for just 161. “This boy is simply amazing; I have never seen so much concentration and stamina in one so young,’ says Raj Singh Dungarpur, present chairman of the national selection committee.
It was Dungarpur who induced young Sachin Tendulkar to turn out for the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in the Kanga League, played between July and September during Bombay’s monsoon. ‘Of course, I never got the chance to see Sunil Gavaskar at the – same age, but I can say that this boy is a thoroughbred. He is very strong on the leg side, but otherwise plays strictly in the ‘V’ to either side of the bowler, and all along the ground. His concentration is astounding in the two days-plus that he batted while scoring 346 against Anjuman, there was just one blemish (he was dropped in the covers when he had scored 229); and perhaps one uppish square-cut that nearly went to hand.
Further, you must remember that he came to the wicket when his team was in a tight corner, having lost early wickets. He played with great responsibility and never lofted the ball. And then he came on to bowl all those tidy overs of medium pace and spin! There is so much of Greg Chappell that I see in him—the batting, the strokes, the bowling style. If carefully nurtured, he is a sure bet for India in a few years.’ Sachin is undoubtedly the darling of his parents, two older brothers, and a sister.
The youngest child of Prof. Ramesh Tendulkar, who teaches the Marathi language at Kirti College, he was virtually an afterthought, born eight years after the family had been considered ‘complete’. The eldest son in the family had little time for sport, and this was further cut down when he joined Air India. For Sachin, the cricketing inspiration came from his other brother Ajit, an opening batsman and off-spinner, who represented Balmohan School and now plays for Jolly cricketers in the “A” division of the Kanga league. A record-breaking pair, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli, created a world record by sharing a 664-run partnership for the third wicket for Shardashram against St. Xavier’s in a school match, both scoring triple centuries.
