Sachin Tendulkar, the complete batsman and most worshipped cricketer, has cherished fans from numerous unforgettable memories throughout his outstanding career. One such moment is when Sachin steamrolled Australian bowling attack at Sharjah during the Coca-Cola Cup tournament in 1998, widely known as the ‘Desert Storm’.
Sachin demolished the Aussie bowlers and smashed 131-balls 141 runs knock. It remains one of the greatest innings of Sachin’s career. However, India still lost the contest. Recalling the famous game on Thursday, Sachin revealed how he was scolded by his elder brother Ajit when he returned home.
During the chat on Star Sports’ show ‘Cricket Connected’, Tendulkar reminisced how he screamed at his batting partner VVS Laxman for his hesitation to run a double, and for which his elder brother lambasted him.
“I remember that a couple of times my emotions came out and I ended up shouting at Laxman’ Run two, it’s my call why aren’t you running?” said Sachin.
“I received a scolding from my brother as soon as I reached home. He told me ‘these sort of things shouldn’t happen on the ground. He’s your teammate; he’s also playing for the team. It’s not your match alone; he’s also playing with you. I got a bit of hiding at home,” added the Mumbai batman.
In that memorable match, Sachin and Laxman stitched a crucial partnership of 104 runs for the fifth wicket before the former’s dismissal. Later, India faced a defeat by 26 runs with Laxman remaining unbeaten on 23 off 34. Despite losing the game, India managed to qualify for the finals based on net run rate.
Sachin stated that he badly wanted to win that contest so that they could dominate Australia mentally as well.
“In my mind, I always wanted to win that game and qualify to the finals as a victorious team because I knew it might play a mental role. There is a difference if you just qualify and when you qualify by beating them.
“So there the mind games start and obviously my first attempt was to win that game and if and when it was not possible then the second thought was always to qualify and try and beat then in the finals but that was the whole idea.”
