All heads must bow, and every tongue must confess that Sachin Tendulkar is the most respected player in cricket.
Tendulkar, dubbed as cricket’s favourite child, sits on a pedestal where others dream of. He, in his heyday, has unapologetically tormented the best bowlers, but what remained constant throughout was the respect he received from the rivals.
The Master Blaster has played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, and Brett Lee, but no one dared to sledge the master as they knew the consequences.
However, former India wicketkeeper, Deep Dasgupta, has recalled an incident from the 2007 Ranji final between Mumbai and Bengal, where a young Ashok Dinda did the unthinkable.
Deep, who was the captain, revealed that Mumbai had a star-studded lineup with Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, and Sachin Tendulkar in the Playing XI.
He further revealed that Mumbai lost two quick wickets and Sachin was at the crease. Ashok Dinda, who was playing his first season, had a habit of glaring at the batter eye if he managed to beat him.
“Dinda had a habit of glaring at a batter if he beats him. I categorically told him, ‘Don’t say anything to Sachin’.”
However, Dinda refused to follow the instructions.
“Dinda comes and starts glaring at him. I was like, “What are you doing man!”. I came running towards him, put my hand on his shoulder and said, ‘go back, go back,” Deep added.
The consequences were not good as Sachin scored 105. “You got to be careful about what you speak to whom. Because players like him can punish you.” Dasgupta finished.