One of the many career-defining knocks from Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar came in the year 1998 in Sharjah. His consecutive tons helped India win the Coca-Cola Trophy against a strong Australian attack.
Sachin scored 143 in a losing cause which helped India qualify for the finals. Subsequently, Sachin backed it up with another century (134) in the finals against the same opposition. His 143 run knock is popularly hailed as the ‘Desert Storm’.
During a recent conversation on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Connected’, Sachin reminisced about his special knocks which helped him win the man of the tournament title.
Earlier, he registered his disappointment with the revised target of Duckworth Lewis method, where they had to chase down only nine less from the initial target, in just 46 overs.
“We went inside the dressing room thinking of the new revised target, what it would be. Eventually (when play resumed) we had 46 overs but if I’m not mistaking only 8-9 runs were deducted from the target so I was quite upset. When we plan a chase we do it according to the full quota of overs and suddenly 4 overs are taken out and only 9-10 runs are deducted… That is where your calculations go for a toss,” Sachin recalled.
During the match, a strong gust of wind shook everyone including Sachin who wanted to hold on to Adam Gilchrist due to the storm.
“This was my first ever experience. I had never seen a desert storm like that. When I saw that, the first thought was that I was gonna get blown away by this. Adam Gilchrist was standing right behind me. The storm was so strong that I decided to forget about all social distancing and was ready to hold on to him because if the storm blows me away then at least there will be 80-90 kilos, Adam Gilchrist, with me, so I was thinking literally like that, that’s when the umpires decided to leave the field,” concluded Sachin.
