Sachin Tendulkar Saqlain Mushtaq: Indo-Pak cricket has many memorable moments, from Javed Miandad’s last-ball six in Sharjah to Virender Sehwag’s triple century in Multan, from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 151-run partnership in Dubai to Virat Kohli’s epic 82-run innings at the World Cup last year.

Sincerely, even after all these years, no cricket match compares to India vs. Pakistan. It’s possible that political tensions on both sides of the border halted bilateral ties and restricted competition to ICC events. Be that as it may, even now at whatever point there is an India versus Pakistan cricket match, the world stops. In fact, the fewer matches have actually made the stakes higher.

Pakistan and India have always been fierce rivals. Indo-Pak cricket has many memorable moments, from Javed Miandad’s last-ball six in Sharjah to Virender Sehwag’s triple century in Multan, from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s unbeaten 151-run partnership in Dubai to Virat Kohli’s epic 82-run innings at the World Cup last year.

Having said that, there will never be another rivalry like the one these two teams had in the 1990s and early 2000s. The individual face-offs, the battles in Sharjah, the World Cup in 1996, 1999, and 2003—India vs. Pakistan had it all. Pakistan’s 1999 tour of India during the Kargil war was one of the most memorable periods of rivalry. The two teams put on a classic match.

The series was a “Masterpiece” because of Sachin Tendulkar‘s heartbreak and Anil Kumble‘s dismissal of all 10 Pakistan batters in one innings. The primary Test in Chennai itself had established the vibe with Tendulkar and Saqlain Mushtaq getting everyone’s attention.

While Tendulkar’s 136-run loss will go down in history as one of the most agonizing innings for Indian cricket fans, Pakistan still arguably played their best Test match ever. Saqlain, Pakistan’s win-maker, talked about the famous Test in Chennai and how he got Tendulkar to play the shot that ended his career. Although Saqlain has previously described this incident numerous times, the description and some previously unknown details on this one promise to astonish you.

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Saqlain on Sachin’s Knock of 1999

“India vs. Pakistan Test in Chennai. It was rated the No. 1 Test in Pakistan’s cricket history, making it the best. 1 Test. I bowled out Sachin Tendulkar in the first or second delivery of the first innings. When he came to bat in the next innings, which was crucial to the match, Sachin didn’t play a shot for the first ten overs.

“He watched every trick I played on him. I tried off-spin, doosra, top-spin, arm-ball, bowled faster off-breaks, and flighted deliveries, but he played me cautiously for 10 to 12 overs. On The Nadir Ali podcast, Saqlain stated, “He started smashing me after that.”

“After that, I went to Wasim Akram. “Wasim bhai… I believe he is reading me well, so please take me off and bring someone else,” I told him. “Brother, you will bowl from this end no matter what,” Akram told me. No one else has my trust. You are the reason this match will turn around. Wasim Akram deserves a lot of credit, in my opinion. This is how I and he communicated during that match.”

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After Saqlain and Waqar Younis decimated the top order, leaving the host reeling at 82/5, India, chasing 271 to win, found themselves in a position where they were in no man’s land. However, when all expectations appeared to be lost, in came Tendulkar and put on a braveheart exertion.

Tendulkar fought his way to a century despite a bad back, scoring 136 runs and 18 boundaries. Before a rare lapse in concentration ended his heroics, he had brought India close and put them on the verge of victory on his own. We are aware, of course, that Saqlain foxed Tendulkar with the doosra; however, making the decision to bowl it required a great deal of courage and careful preparation.

“I did not bowl him a variation for the next 10 to 12 overs. In order for him to forget everything he saw and observed in the first ten overs, I restricted him to one off-spin ball and one field. Neither at the striker end nor the non-striker end did I show him the doosra.

I went to Akram and told him, “I think now I have caught a hold of him,” when he forgot. I’m going to take a chance on him now. After that, I bowled a doosra, and he pursued him. By that time, Sachin had hit him for nearly 16 to 17 fours and scored a 100. With five wickets remaining, India needed 37 (17) to win, and Sachin top-edged it, and Wasim caught it,” Saqlain said.

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