Ex-India coach Gaekwad fondly recalls 'incredibly curious' Sachin's 'peak'

Former India head coach Anshuman Gaekwad had the best seat in the house as he witnessed Sachin Tendulkars peak from close quarters in the late 90s and early 2000sIt was a phase when Tendulkar made the best of the bowlers look ordinary whether it was taking Shane Warne to the cleaners on a turning track or negotiating Saqlain Mushtaqs magical doosraIn a chat with PTI ahead of Tendulkars 50th birthday Gaekwad fondly recalled the time spent in the dressing room with the little master during the memorable home series against Pakistan in 1999 the Desert Storm in Sharjah the year before and his first meeting with a 15yearold Sachin during a Ranji Trophy game in the late 80sTendulkar was a child prodigy who made waves in Mumbai school cricket and going by Gaekwads first interaction with him the incredibly curious kid was always destined for greatnessIt makes me happy to say that we have played Ranji together it was my last year One of the Mumbai cricketers brought him to me for advice It was a game in Thane and I sat with him for about 4550 minutes and the whole time he listened and did not blink onceThat itself gave me an indication that he wanted to be somebody in the game He was not listening it looked as if he was drinking what I was saying Very patient and concentrating said the former India opener who played 40 Tests and 15 ODIsTendulkar made his Ranji debut aged 15 years and 232 days during the 198889 season and soon after he found himself facing the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis in his debut series in PakistanA decade later Gaekwad shared the dressing room with Tendulkar during his two stints as India head coach between 1998 and 2000 covering some of the defining moments in the batting legends 24year long international careerThe moments included Indias series win against Australia in 1998 when Warne toured the subcontinent for the first time the drawn series against Pakistan the Coco Cola Cup in Sharjah and a disappointing campaign in the 1999 World CupBesides his mastery with the bat Gaekwad said the mere presence of Tendulkar on the field made a massive difference One such instance was the Chennai Test against Pakistan that India lost despite one of the best knocks from a halffit TendulkarPlaying Pakistan is a big deal Sachin was too important part of the team to be left out for any reason He had back problems in that Test and I talked to him I said I dont care what happens you stand in the slips and half the battle is wonUnfortunately we lost the game but he was declared man of the mach and he did not go to accept the award I had to do that for him It showed he was a total team man said Gaekwad referring to Tendulkars 136As the rest of the batters struggled to pick Saqlains doosra Tendulkar read him beautifully something the Pakistan offspinner has admitted publicly on numerous occasionsAnother innings that came to Gaekwads mind is the 155 against Australia in the Chennai Test in 1998The way he hit Shane Warne all over the place on a turning track was amazing to see Probably his best batting in limited overs cricket came in Sharjah when he hit those two hundreds Till date it is the best I have seen in white ball cricket He told me beforehand that he will get those two hundreds and he got themGaekwad was also around when Tendulkar returned to the 1999 World Cup in the UK following the death of his father and scored an emotional hundred against KenyaEven when he played other sports he hated losingTendulkars love for music and food is well documented but Gaekwad said his personality as a whole helped create a pleasant vibe in the dressing roomHe brought positive energy in the team On tours what I liked about him was that he wasnt someone who would sit in the room He would play tennis or any other game and always wanted to win there as well He did not like losing That is a big part of his personalityWhen he was alone in the room he would always have music on He would always iron his own clothes never sent them for laundry and was very particular about his dressing and cricketing equipment He was someone who you would like to have in your team all the timeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever