Most people think that my first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar was in Calcutta in 1991, when we made a comeback to international cricket. Yes, it was the first time we faced off against each other and jointly won the man of the match award. Sachin led India to victory in our comeback match with a very well played 62, while I had managed to pick up five wickets for South Africa.
However, I had been actually following this kid from a few years earlier. The Wisden and Cricketer magazines, which my granddad had regular subscriptions to, were raving about him for some time and I was most keen to see him in action from the early 1990 onwards. Following the brief encounter in India, Sachin and I both played county cricket in 1992. Sachin was in fact the first international cricketer to play for Yorkshire. By then, I had realised that I’d have to gear myself for many faceoffs against this kid in my career and was keeping a very close eye on his exploits. And it was in 1992 during a Sunday league match that he played for Yorkshire that I realised how good he was. He scored a match-winning 70-odd off 50 balls, and single-handedly led his team to victory. This innings defined Sachin Tendulkar for me. At such a young age, he was dominating bowlers in bowling-friendly conditions with great poise. He was playing shots with complete freedom and not a single of his shots was a slog. They were all cricketing shots and it was just wonderful to see a kid do that with such ferocity. There was no doubt that here was a special talent who had come to dominate world cricket for some time.
I have had some great duels against Sachin right through my career. He was easily the best batsman of our time and it was always exciting to be able to bowl to him. He has scored runs across the world, in all sorts of climes and conditions and there’s little debate about his greatness. In fact, as I said at the start, I always knew he’d have a very good career. However, little did I know that he’d manage to do what he has! His achievements are simply unbelievable and when you think of the pressure he has played with for over two decades you wonder what this man must be made of.
His one quality, which endears him to one and all, is his humility. In fact, I had once said as much to him when we spent an evening together at the Sandton Sun hotel in Johannesburg in 1996. I was amazed at the way he conducted himself and spoke to people and remember going up to him and saying that it was simply brilliant to see him do so.
I am hearing that Sachin will make one last trip to South Africa end of the year with the Indian Test team. Firstly, it is important I state that he has nothing left to prove to anyone. He has achieved everything and his place as the greatest in the cricketing pantheon is secure. But if he does come to South Africa to face off against the number one Test team, the South African public will just love it. They’d give him a standing ovation in every ground that he plays in and will relish the opportunity to see him bat against the world’s best bowling line-up at the moment. I am looking forward to this contest with great interest. Here’s wishing one of the greatest gentlemen cricketers of all time a very happy birthday.
Allan Donald, Ex-South African fast bowler
