Saqlain Mushtaq Narrates The Incident After Which He Never Sledged Sachin Tendulkar

Legendary cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Saqlain Mushtaq were involved in a number of intense battles on the field in the second half of 1990s. The result of their duel usually decided the fate of the India-Pakistan match. And during those famous duels, Sachin Tendulkar once left the former Pakistan off-spinner deeply embarrassed.

Recalling his battles with the batting legend, Mushtaq remembered how he never sledged the batting maestro again after one incident. The incident took place during the Sahara Cup in Canada when Mushtaq thought it would be a good idea to sledge Sachin Tendulkar. But as things turned out, he decided never to sledge the former India batsman again after sledging him once.

“I was new when I sledged him for the first time. If I recall correctly, it was the 1997 edition. Sachin quietly came up to me and said ”I never misbehaved with you, why are you misbehaving with me”? I got so embarrassed that I did not know what to say to him,” Mushtaq told PTI.

“He said to me ”I rate you high as a person and player”. I was so embarrassed that I never sledged him again. I can”t tell you what I said to him but I apologised to him after the game.

“Thereafter, even when he was smashing me all over, I never thought of sledging him,” recalled the 43-year-old, describing Tendulkar as one of the most humble human beings he met.

One of the finest battles between Mushtaq and Sachin Tendulkar took place during the famous Chennai Test of 1999. Pakistan had gone on to win the thrilling Test by 12 runs with both Sachin Tendulkar and Mushtaq impressing. While the former India batsman scored a fighting ton in the second innings, the ex-spinner picked up ten wickets to turn out to be the difference in the game.

“In that 1999 Test, no words were exchanged. We both were determined and focused to win the game for our countries. We put our heart and soul in it (on day four).

“I consider myself lucky that my name was attached to Sachin”s cricketing career with that match. The only difference that day was that god was on my side.

“Otherwise, the way he was playing, it was unbelievable. The ball was reversing but he played Wasim Akram with such confidence,” said Mushtaq.

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