A first-time series against England in England can be a daunting prospect for any cricketer. It’s the kind of challenge that can forge a career or leave the confidence shattered. For Sachin Tendulkar, the first tour of England, at the tender age of 17, was where he gave the world a glimpse of what the next couple of decades were going to look like.
Cricket fans might recollect that Tendulkar scored a match-saving century at Old Trafford in the second Test of the 1990 Tour of England. In fact, Tendulkar had scored 68 in the first innings before an unbeaten knock of 119 in the second innings had helped the visitors stave off defeat. This was Tendulkar’s maiden Test century, one which made him the second youngest player back then to score a Test hundred.
Watch: Tendulkar scores his 1st international century
But what was even more remarkable was that the teenaged Tendulkar had reportedly carried his school textbooks to England to study for his class X exams.
“He (Tendulkar) was very quiet. On that first tour he was carrying his school books to study in tenth grade. He was shy, did not talk too much and he was just a normal kid. He did not involve himself in topics. He used to observe,” cricket legend Kapil Dev had revealed in a 2013 interview with the BBC Radio 5 Live show.
A young Sachin Tendulkar poses with Sanjay Manjrekar and Mohammad Azharuddin. (File photo from The Indian Express archive)
Kapil went on to add how he was also surprised by a few aspects of Tendulkar’s batting and his personality on that tour.
“Two things were very different about him at that age. His balance was so good… unbelievable! And he did not hit the ball, he pushed the ball! He had a heavy bat. During that period I had never seen someone using that heavy bat and he held the bat low down,” Kapil added.
“With his left hand, he did writing and eating. But batting, bowling was with right hand. Later on, I realised he must be a genius who has power in both hands. That is the future of cricket. If you can have balanced power you can control the ball and balance of your body.”
