Forget About All Social Distancing And Was Ready To Hold On To Adam Gilchrist: Sachin Tendulkar On Desert Storm In Sharjah Cup

It was on this day, 24 years ago, when the ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar played one of the greatest ODI knocks of his career. Tendulkar scored a breezy 143-run innings when his teammates struggled to survive on the pitch against the mighty Australians in the 1998 Sharjah Cup.

Tendulkar’s gritty knock wasn’t enough for India to chase the revised score of 276 after the sandstorm came into the play as Australia had posted 284/7 in the first innings. However, Tendulkar’s valiant efforts didn’t go in vain as India booked a berth in the finals of the Sharjah Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar’s master blast in Sharjah Cup against Australia

The innings by Tendulkar is popularly called ‘Desert Storm’ as the Indian batting legend took on the Australian bowling attack on their toes and the match was disrupted because of the sandstorm.

Forget about all social distancing and was ready to hold on to Adam Gilchrist: Sachin Tendulkar on Desert Storm 

Tripping down memory lane, Tendulkar recollected the moment of thinking to hold on to Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist to face the wrath of the storm together.

“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,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying on Star Sports in 2020.

“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 an 80-90 kilos Adam Gilchrist with me, so I was thinking literally like that, that’s when the umpires decided to leave the field,” he added. 

India met Australia once again in the finals and Tendulkar slammed another century on the trot, this time it turned out to be in a winning cause. While chasing 273 in the finals, Tendulkar scored 134 as India won by six wickets and clinched the Sharjah Cup title.

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