Watch: In front of a raucous Eden Gardens crowd, a young Sachin Tendulkar delivered a stunning final over with his seam-up bowling, helping India clinch victory in a thriller in 1993 against South Africa.
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Tendulkar developed into a canny part-time bowler as his career progressed, but the earliest glimpses of his bowling prowess came to the fore in the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa. In an inspired piece of captaincy, Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin handed the ball to 20-year-old Tendulkar, with South Africa needing six to win from the last over.
It was a big gamble: Tendulkar had 15 wickets in 63 ODIs by then, was given the last over ahead of established bowlers Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar and Javagal Srinath. Tendulkar hadn’t rolled his arm over until then. The team had a long discussion, stretching the patience of the umpires, until it was finally decided who would bowl the last six balls.
The youngster stepped up to the challenge: off the first ball, No.9 Dave Richardson was run out after completing a single, leaving South Africa with five needed off the last five. No.6 batsman Brian McMillan was running out of partners, with Allan Donald joining him next. Using his crafty change of pace, Tendulkar tightened the noose further, sending down three deliveries that Donald couldn’t send away. The South African quick managed to get the fifth one to long-on and change ends, but the required equation had become trickier by then. Four were required off the final one.
Tendulkar then sealed the over with a quick yorker which McMillan couldn’t get away – the bowler let out a roar of celebration and was instantly surrounded by his teammates. Years later, Azharuddin said that the choice of Tendulkar for the final over was a “spontaneous thought”. As it turns out, it gave birth to one of India’s best part-timers.
Watch the final over here:
