When Sachin Tendulkar's Advice Worked Wonders For Mohammad Ashraful

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has achieved whatever there is to accomplish with the bat. The 47-year-old is the leading run-getter in Tests and ODIs along with scoring the most number of centuries in both the formats. Not only that, but Sachin Tendulkar is also the most-capped player in both the versions, having featured in 463 ODIs and 200 Tests. Meanwhile, former Bangladesh batsman, Mohammad Ashraful has connected Tendulkar’s name with one of his famous knocks.

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Mohammad Ashraful was one of the rising stars in Bangladesh cricket setup, having played between 2001 and 2013. The right-handed batsman played an integral role in Bangladesh’s first and lone ODI victory against Australia in 2005. Nevertheless, his admission to being involved in spot-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League was the moment his career ended.

In the meantime, Ashraful’s innings that bores connection with Sachin Tendulkar arrived in 2004 in Chattogram against India. The 35-year old addressed his concerns of playing well in the first innings of any series after which it doesn’t go well. Sachin Tendulkar responded by stating that the bowlers figure out your weakness in the first innings itself due to which they target it over and over again.

“Before 158 in 2004, we played Tests in Dhaka. So I went to Tendulkar’s room at Sonargaon Hotel. He knows that I’m a fan of his. At that time I couldn’t speak Hindi and I couldn’t speak English well. Then he told me to speak in Bengali, and told me that you have no problem, I will answer you. So I told him that Sachin Bhai, I always have a good first innings in every series, then the whole series don’t go well for me,” Ashraful stated as quoted by CricFrenzy.

“He tells me that when you play in the first innings, they attack you, give you bouncers and you attack them and you succeed. In the next innings, they saw in the video and figure out what is not your comfort zone. And you don’t have that preparation, you have your previous preparation that they will give you the short ball and you will score run. So, the next innings you see that they are not giving short ball anymore to you. That’s what he was telling me,” Ashraful added.

Sachin Tendulkar told me to stay positive: Mohammad Ashraful

The Dhaka-born batsman further said that after his unbeaten 60 in the first Test, he went to ask Sachin for advice again ahead of Chattogram Test. All Sachin suggested was to keep his mind positive and never refuse to play any shot. The advice worked for Mohammad Ashraful as he was able to score 158 runs in the first innings of the second Test. Even though the home side lost the Test by an innings and 83 runs, captain Sourav Ganguly applauded the valiant knock.

“So in that Dhaka Test, I was not out for 60 runs. Later we went to Chittagong for the second Test. There I went to his room again and asked Sachin Bhai I was 60 not out in the previous match, what should I do now. He tells me not to think negatively about what has happened.

And don’t bring negative things to mind. He told me to stay positive. Never say I won’t play this shot. So I went down to the match with that preparation. I was determined that if I have to hit, I will do it, if I have to leave, I will leave. In this way, I scored 158 runs, luckily.” he added.

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