Sachin Tendulkar dominated Kapil Dev, Chetan Sharma at the age of 15: Dilip Vengsarkar

Former Indian cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in 1989 as a 16-year-old. However, the iconic batsman had already impressed some legendary Indian cricketers like Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar much before his maiden appearance for Team India. Former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, who was India’s captain back in 1988, recently recalled the instance when Sachin Tendulkar impressed him in the nets.

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Dilip Vengsarkar narrates time when Kapil Dev bowled to Sachin Tendulkar

Dilip Vengsarkar was recently involved in a live chat with Sportskeeda. In the chat, he recalled the time when he captained India in their home Test series against New Zealand in 1988. Prior to the second Test at the Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, he revealed that he was introduced to a young 15-year-old Sachin Tendulkar by the then coach Vasudev Paranjpe. Vengsarkar revealed that he was told by his coach to have a look at the youngster since he was an “exceptional talent”.

Dilip Vengsarkar then requested top Indian pacers like Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma to bowl to the young batsman. The cricketer-turned-selector revealed that after some hesitation in bowling to a 15-year old, they finally agreed to do so and apparently, the youngster impressed them. Vengsarkar credited the pacers by saying even though Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma were established cricketers, they bowled to Sachin Tendulkar for a while, who in turn played all of them very well.

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Vengsarkar stated that before meeting Tendulkar that day, he had already heard enough about him for his performance in inter-school tournaments. He revealed that he attended Mumbai’s team meeting the same evening where they were about to select a 15-man squad for the Ranji Trophy. He said that he convinced the committee to pick the youngster even though they were reluctant to select him at first because of his young age.

In the interaction with Sportskeeda, Dilip Vengsarkar also mentioned that Sachin Tendulkar was good in seizing opportunities. He cited the example of his centuries on debuts in all three of India’s domestic first-class tournaments, i.e. Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy.

Sachin Tendulkar debut in 1989

Sachin Tendulkar played his first Test in 1989 against Imran Khan-led Pakistan in Karachi. The match also marked the debut of premier fast bowler Waqar Younis. In his first match itself, the right-hander was up against the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan.  

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Image credits: ICC Twitter