In a recent interview, Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar remembered an incident from his international debut in November 1989, when famous Pakistani batsman Javed Miandad slammed him after the latter was clumsily struck in the nose by a Waqar Younis delivery. At the same time, Sachin recalled how Imran Khan, then the captain of Pakistan, had instructed Javed to mind his own business rather than disparaging the opposition during a crucial point in the game. The Master Blaster also explained why, despite being hurt, he didn’t leave the playing area.
“My first tour of Pakistan, we were playing the fourth Test, and we had drawn the first three. In the last innings of the fourth Test, we were some 36/4 down. I got hit by a bouncer from Waqar Younis on my nose, I wasn’t used to wearing a grill and my face was exposed to the blow. I broke my nose and I was bleeding,” Tendulkar said at an event organized by Infosys. “Naturally, the game stopped. Pakistan players realized that it was a crunch moment. Had I walked off, they would’ve been in a dominating position,” he added.
“They wanted to finish the game and they wanted to win. In that buzz around me, Javed Miandad — we all know how he can be — he was nudging me and said, ‘Tera naak toot gaya hai, tere ko hospital jaana padega’ (You have broken your nose, you will have to go to the hospital). Imran (Imran Khan) tells him, ‘Javed leave him alone’. I continued batting. That was one moment where I felt that an injury like that can make or break you,” the Little Master further added.
