'Sachin Tendulkar slapped me on the back,' Virender Sehwag recalls asking Master Blaster to 'save' him from Wasim Akram

Back in the days, the Indian cricket team was synonymous with the opening duo of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Since his early days in international cricket, Sehwag had been India’s designated opener, but the second opening slot used to switch between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

It was only in 2003, during the World Cup in South Africa, when Sehwag and Tendulkar started opening the innings together, and in the several years that followed, the two have gone onto create memorable opening partnerships across formats. Both Sehwag and Tendulkar have amassed 3919 runs from 93 innings while batting together, including 12 century stands.

Whenever the two used to open, Sehwag used to take the first strike of the innings most of the time, but recently, the Delhi-born cricketer revealed the time when he asked Sachin to ‘save’ him from Wasim Akram, and face the first ball of the innings at the 2003 World Cup against Pakistan.

Sachin initially was reluctant, but eventually changed his mind once the two walked into the middle to bat.

“I was not doing well against the left-arm fast bowlers. I got out on first ball to Chaminda Vaas many times and many times to Nathan Bracken also. When we were playing against Wasim bhai in 2003 World Cup, and last over of innings when we were fielding and I asked Sachin Tendulkar to take strike. I said, ‘See, if Wasim bowls first ball, I might get out’. He (Tendulkar) said ‘No, No, I am very superstitious, my pandit ji has told me to bat at No.2’. And I said ‘You’re No.1 batsman in the world and you’re talking about Pandit ji… But he said, ‘No… I will bat at No. 2; you have to take the strike’,” Sehwag was quoted as saying during an interaction on the sidelines of the International League T20 tournament in the UAE.

“So then, we were playing at the Centurion and we had to step up many stairs, so we went in for lunch and then came back requesting Tendulkar. He had put on big earphones, removed one, slapped me on the back and said go and pad yourself; I will not take strike. So, you know I was trying to please Tendulkar to save me from Wasim Akram,” added the 44-year-old.

Tendulkar eventually took the strike in the first ball of the innings, and got off the mark with a single. He would go onto make the occasion memorable, scoring a 75-ball knock of 98 as India successfully chased down a target of 274, with six wickets to spare. India would go onto the reach the final of the World Cup, where they eventually lost to Australia.

“When we were going down to bat, walking down the stairs, I asked him again to take strike… and he said no. Till the 30-yard circle, I was asking him to take strike and he kept saying no. And then suddenly, I see Sachin walking towards where the wicketkeeper stands and I said ‘Wow, it’s my lucky day, you know’. He took the strike, first ball he took single and second ball, I had to face Wasim Akram. So, I was lucky enough to survive that but at least I didn’t play the first one,” added the former right-handed batter.

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