Sachin Tendulkar said ball that trapped me on debut would’ve got him too

I recall that I didn’t speak to him,neither did I go looking for an autograph. Frankly,I was overawed by the fact that I was in the same dressing room as Sachin.

However,I closely observed how he prepares for a match in the nets and his routine before he goes out to bat. Since I play for Saurashtra,I didn’t have the opportunity to watch an international player from close quarters.

The closest I had come to brushing shoulders with a star cricketer was in the late 90s when Sachin spoke to Saurashtra’s young players when he was in Rajkot for a One-day International.

Unfortunately,I was not part of that group of lucky budding cricketers but my father (Arvind) told me that Sachin had advised the group not to try and copy anyone. That piece of advice stuck with me till date.

When I made just four runs in my debut match,Sachin told me that even he would have got out if he had received a delivery similar to the one that trapped me lbw. When I batted with him in the second innings of that game,Sachin told me that the Australian bowlers — namely Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson — would try to get me bowled or LBW. His reading of the game was marvelous.

During the Hyderabad Test match,versus New Zealand last year,Sachin,who was batting with me,was quick to spot that I was having trouble facing the out-swinger but was middling it when I was facing spinners. I scored my maiden Test century in that game.

You can learn so much from Sachin when he is batting with you in the middle and by watching him prepare. It is up to individuals to learn as much as you can from Sachin.

I tried to inculcate his work ethic,his passion,his hunger for runs and his dedication to the game. He is 40 but there has not been a single day when he has not given it his all,be it in the nets or during a match. He is inspiration to all of us and he has proven that if you are passionate about the game and work hard,then age is just a number.

I’m a very shy guy so I haven’t had too many conversations with Sachin. However,one thing I will ask him for will be his autograph after his 200th Test match.

— as told to Devendra Pandey