Sachin Tendulkar unleashed a furious onslaught against Australia in 1998 at Sharjah, a memorable knock that earned the nickname ‘Desert Storm’. The iconic innings is to date seen as one of the finest displays in the game’s history. As the Master Blaster turns 51 on Wednesday, let’s revisit to audacious knock from 1998.
Desert storm – A Sachin Tendulkar story
Sachin had unleashed a storm of his own that threatened to sweep away Australia’s chances at the match. No one was spared.
Michael Kasprowicz was hit for sixes that still live in the minds of millions. The match also marked one of the many face-offs the Master had with late legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne, with the batter getting better of Warne on this particular day.
Tendulkar looked unstoppable, with India 242/4 in 42.5 overs, with just 34 required in 19 deliveries and a victory was in sight for India. A miracle followed as pacer Damien Fleming got Tendulkar at the final ball of the over, taking the scoreline to 242/5 in 43. with India needing 34 in 18 balls. Tendulkar went back to the pavilion scoring a 131-ball 143, with 9 fours and 5 sixes.
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How Desert Storm changed Sachin’s outlook
“Overall I felt that outing gave a new dimension to my cricketing career, I started opening in 1994 and before that my thought process was to play out the first few overs and build partnerships and finish strong but I had a different strategy and I shared same to the management and said that give me one chance to open the batting if I fail, I will not come back,” Sachin had said earlier.
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