While commentating on the ongoing World Cup in England for Star Sports, Sachin Tendulkar has been reminiscing about his 24-year long career and relating some really interesting anecdotes. Before the match between Bangladesh and Pakistan, the channel aired an interesting segment where Sachin answered questions from fellow members of the commentary team.
One question to him was from Mike Hesson, the former coach of New Zealand under whose guidance the Black Caps achieved great success. Hesson asked the Master Blaster about memories from his first tour of New Zealand in 1990, when he was still a teenager and apparently, was being verbally attacked by players of home team. Sachin gave details of what happened.
He talked about the sledging he faced from the then New Zealand team, especially their pace bowler Danny Morrison. Yes, Morrison, now known as the ultra-excited and, at times, deliberately goofy commentator was giving the Indian legend a very tough time when he was just starting out his career. In fact, it was Morrison who gave Sachin the very first golden duck of his career, in the first Test of the series, at Christchurch.
Tendulkar narrated how, on arriving at the wicket, he was receiving a lot of chatter from the fielders around. But, according to the great man, when he nicked the very first delivery from Morrison and was dismissed for 0, the Kiwis celebrated by telling him to 'get lost' and calling him 'school kid' among other abuses. This, according to Tendulkar, motivated him further and made him determined when he came out to bat later in the series.
He ended his answer by mentioning that the man captaining the New Zealanders at that time – John Wright – later became the coach of the Indian team. Sachin thanked Wright for the extra motivation his team provided to him.
It is worth mentioning here that, in the very next Test, Sachin came tantalisingly close to becoming the youngest centurion in Test history, falling short by just 12 runs in Napier.
