Sachin Tendulkar's First Roommate For Mumbai Recalls The Fond Memories

Sachin Tendulkar has been an inspiration and an idol for so many presents and former cricketers and will be the same for many more generations to come. The milestones achieved by Sachin have made India proud. Cricketers from the current lot idolise him for his achievements and try to emulate or come close to the records he has created. But it took him 24 long years to achieve this status in the country.

Sachin made his debut for the Indian team on 15^th November 1989 at the age of 16 against Pakistan in Karachi. Sachin faced the likes of Waqar Younis, who was also making his debut in that match, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir. He faced the mighty Pakistani fast bowler without any hesitation and did not show any sign of nerves. This day marked the beginning of a legendary cricketing career.

But before coming into the Indian side, he had achieved huge laurels in the domestic circuit playing for the Mumbai Ranji team. He was included in the Mumbai Ranji side at the age of 15 in the 1987-88 season but did not play a match that season.

Former Indian and Mumbai bowler, Suru Nayak was Sachin’s first roommate during a match against Baroda and he recalled the fond memories of that season:

 “He was a very shy boy of around 15. I was the senior most member of the team and the management thought it would be good for a newcomer to share the room with a senior player. Skipper Chandrakant Pandit told me to keep a watch on the young man. In fact, inside the room Sachin was a busy boy – imitating his shots against spinners and pacers etc. But once on the field or outside, he would go into himself. He would not speak much. He was very shy even to sign an autograph. Those days, there used to be a decent turnout for Ranji matches and people were aware of Tendulkar’s reputation as a future star.” 

Talking about his behaviour at that young age he said:

“He will not come and give his opinion unless he was asked. I think his brother Ajit should be given credit for moulding his behaviour. In fact, Sachin was not so naughty but Vinod (Kambli) was an absolute riot.”

“He was special even at that age. He was a thin boy, but very observant. His power of observation was excellent. He did not play any matches that season but he was happy to bat in the nets and being part of the Mumbai team.I was playing my penultimate season then. But Mumbai had two excellent pacers in Anoop Sabnis and Raju Kulkarni. They were quite nippy. But Sachin handled them with ease at nets. He has good time to play shots and we were sure that the boy would make it big.”