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Sachin Tendulkar vs Piyush Chawla: Story of a wrong'un and master's revenge

Sachin Tendulkar vs Piyush Chawla: Story of a wrong'un and master's revenge. The batting legend and the young leg-spinner had a tussle in Challenger Trophy nearly two decades ago.

The story of the on-field battle between Sachin Tendulkar and Piyush Chawla

Bengaluru, July 23: India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla rose to national reckoning when he dismissed Sachin Tendulkar with a googly in a Challenger Trophy match. The 16-year-old kid soon was hailed as a prodigy and subsequently Chawla did progress to the highest level.

Chawla said a relaxed mindset was his biggest alley on that big day when he bowled against legendary Tendulkar.

"A lot of people have asked me that question. Parthiv Patel was behind the stumps. Dinesh (Mongia) bhai was the captain. As a 15-16 year old, when you are going to bowl at Sachin paaji, only two things are possible: you are either very nervous or very relaxed. Luckily, I was very relaxed. The reason behind that was my thinking that even if Sachin paaji hits me, how does that matter?

"If a man, who has taken the likes of Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Glenn McGrath to the cleaners, hits me as well, that's not a big thing. So at that time I had nothing to lose. I was just enjoying the 'Oh I am bowling to Sachin paaji' feeling," said Chawla during 'Homerun with AV' - a chat show hosted by sports commentator Arun Venugopal on his YouTube channel Gethist Creative.

Little wonder then that Chawla still remembers every tiny bit of details about the dismissal.

"So, as a bowler when you start from your run-up, you think what you exactly want to bowl. On that particular one, I don't know what exactly happened. When I started off from my run-up, that too bowling inside the field restrictions, I thought I will bowl a normal leg spin from the leg stump going away from him. To be very honest, I still don't know - it's almost 16 years now. I don't know what came to my mind and I just bowled a wrong 'un," he said.

However, Chawla said Tendulkar had not forgotten that dismissal and exacted his revenge a year later in another Challenger Trophy.

"People remember that I had got Paaji out in that fashion. Paaji, too, isn't a man who forgets things quickly. The very next year, again in a Challenger Trophy game in Chennai, Paaji smashed me around for 20 runs in my first over! That's what I was saying: if Paaji hits me around, it's not a big deal. Paaji has smashed so many bowlers, which is why people don't remember this particular caning," Chawla said.

Story first published: Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 12:23 [IST]
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