Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali recently shared some interesting stories about his playing days, focusing on the team’s dressing room dynamics.
The India vs Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the biggest in sports, featuring many memorable matches. India is known for producing some of the best batters, while Pakistan’s strength has always been their fast bowlers. In a video on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali talked about how the Pakistani players were intimidated by India’s star batter, Sachin Tendulkar.
Ali mentioned that despite India having many great players like former captain Mohammad Azharuddin, it was Tendulkar who always worried them the most. He recalled how their captain, Wasim Akram, would constantly remind the team that getting Tendulkar out was the key to winning the match.
Basit said, “Tendulkar was a top-order batter, and I was a middle-order batter, so we often watched him bat. During team meetings, practice, and even meals, Wasim Akram would say, ‘Get Sachin out, and we’ll win.’ As soon as Sachin got out, Pakistan usually won the match. We respected Azharuddin, but Sachin was the one we feared.”
Tendulkar leads the ODI run-scoring charts in India-Pakistan matches with 2526 runs in 67 innings over 69 matches. In Test cricket, he scored 1057 runs against Pakistan, averaging over 42.
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Nicknamed the ‘Master Blaster’ for his exceptional batting skills, Tendulkar played from 1989 to 2013, captivating cricket fans worldwide. He made his Test debut on November 15, 1989, at the age of 16, and his ODI debut shortly after on December 18 the same year.
With 34,357 runs in 664 international matches at an average of 48.52, Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer in international cricket. He has scored 100 centuries and 164 half-centuries, the most by any player in the history of the game.