Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989. However, Tendulkar had already made his name in the Indian cricket world before his debut. Former Team India captain Dilip Vengsarkar shared an anecdote about Tendulkar. Tendulkar was the captain of Team India at the time when he was beating the bowlers and raining runs in Mumbai's school cricket tournaments. Vengsarkar had his first glimpse of Tendulkar's game in 1988. Team India arrived in Mumbai to practice for the Test match against New Zealand. That test match was very special for Vengsarkar, as it was the 100th Test match of his career. Vengsarkar said on Facebook Live with SportsKeeda, 'I had heard about Sachin because he was scoring a lot of runs in school tournaments at that time. Those tournaments are 100 years old and he has given many players to the Indian team apart from Mumbai. The former captain said, 'I was the captain of the Indian team at that time and was going to play my 100th Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai. We were practicing there.'
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He added, "Our coach Vasudev Paranjpe was very impressed with Sachin and he said that watching this boy is a completely different talent". He said, 'They brought Sachin to the ground. I had to watch him bat on the nets. I asked Kapil Dev, Arshad Ayub, Maninder Singh, Chetan Sharma to bowl. He said what is happening. Why should we bowl to an under-15 boy?" Vengsarkar said, 'So I told him that he is scoring consistently in school tournaments, so I have to watch him bat. Sachin batted. All those bowlers were well-known cricketers, but still, they said that he would bowl, but Sachin impressed a lot. He batted excellently. Vengsarkar told that he spoke in the selection committee meeting to bring Sachin to the Mumbai team. He said, 'The selection committee of our Mumbai team was to meet that evening. I participated in it. I told him about Sachin. I have seen him bat, he is the best, so select him in the 15-member team.
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The former right-handed batsman said, "He said it was too early for him. If they get injured then we will be blamed. So let's wait a few days. I told him that you should keep him in the 15-member team so that he can stay with the team and learn about the atmosphere of the team". Vengsarkar said that as soon as opportunities came before Sachin, he roasted them and was selected for the Indian team next year. He said, 'He scored a century in the Duleep Trophy, he scored a century in the Irani Trophy.' After this, he went to Pakistan in 1989. Sachin Tendulkar came this way, the rest is history.
