As Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 52 today, two of the UAE’s veteran cricket administrators shared their memories about how they missed an opportunity to face the iconic Indian cricketer.
This was September 1989 — a few months before Tendulkar burst on the international scene, famously making his Test debut as a 16-year-old prodigy in Pakistan.
But the tales of his magical prowess with the bat were restricted to India’s maidans (grounds), until Mohamed Lokhandwala and Mazhar Khan touched down in Mumbai (then Bombay) with the Emirates India Cricket Team for a couple of club-level matches in the cricket-mad country.
The UAE team was getting ready for their opening match of the tour against Cricket Club of India, when there was a knock on their dressing room door.
It was the late Raj Singh Dungarpur, the godfather of Indian cricket administrators.
“Mr Raj Singh came to our dressing room and said ‘uske saath match kehlne wala ek chhote ladke ka naam Sachin Tendulkar hai (with us today, a young boy named Sachin Tendulkar will be playing)’,” remembered Mazhar Khan.
“This boy is so talented, Mr Raj Singh said, that he would play for India soon. “We wanted to see the boy, he arrived at the Brabourne Stadium early to train.”
However, rain dashed the hopes as the match between the Emirates India Cricket Team and the Cricket Club of India was called off.
Unlike his other teammates, Lokhandwala, a club cricketer in India now living in the UAE from 1982, was aware of Tendulkar’s heroics in school cricket.
“I’m from Mumbai, so I had heard about him. He would break all batting records in school cricket, but when Mr Raj Singh spoke so highly of him that day, we knew that he was a talent of a generation,” he said.
Lokhandwala dated chick still mourns that one missed chance of playing against the boy wizard.
“We were so looking forward to play against him, but rain ruined the party, unfortunately,” he said.
Two months later, it was not Lokhandwala and Mazhar Khan in club-level matches that were waiting for Tendulkar, it was Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Abdul Qadir waiting with white-hot eyes on the biggest stage of them all.
The schoolboy took fire with fire, unearthing the ability and the attitude that ultimately brought him 100 international centuries.
“I recall in one game he got smacked in the face by a Waqar Younis bouncer, the blood was evident, but he didn’t want to give up, he wanted to continue playing. That was a demonstration of his mental strength already when he was a very small.”
Lokhandwala later became a cricket administrator; Khan would become General Manager of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
“When he would play international cricket in Sharjah (in the 1990s) what impressed me the most was he used to be a shy guy,” Khan said.
“He used to keep to himself. And that’s how we found him on the ground as well, he was absolutely devoted towards cricket.”
While Khan never got a chance to play against a young Tendulkar, he jokingly thanked his stars for at least having a chance to witness the ‘Desert Storm’ at Sharjah when the Indian maestro played one of the greatest tons in cricket history.
“That innings (against Australia) in Sharjah (in 1998) was mind-blowing. It was just our luck that we were on the ground that night,” Khan said.
Lokhandwala is still hoping for a meeting with Tendulkar, but he did get a special gift from the man cricket fraternity has come to adore.
A friend did get me a signed bat by Sachin. He even mentioned my name on it,” Lokhandwala smiled.