'All I was thinking was to not run him out' - Aaron Finch recalls his experience of opening with Sachin Tendulkar

Back in 2014, Australian limited-overs captain, Aaron Finch was still starting out as an international cricketer trying to make a mark. And he got an opportunity to play with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the MCC Bicentenary Celebration match. Some cricketer might see this as a dream, however outscoring any of these legends would be an unbelievable thing for any cricketer.

As it turned out Finch did that exactly. He scored 181 not out as the MCC team chased the total of 293 set by the Rest of the World team. In a recent interaction, Finch shared his entire experience of playing on that day at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The Australian opener revealed that all he was thinking how to not the little master run out. He also recalled the huge presence of the Indian crowd.

The exhibition match to be remembered for Aaron Finch

“All I was thinking was – ‘Do not run him out, just do not run Sachin out’. I think it was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, the crowd that Lords had ever had. It was a huge anniversary. Sachin is captaining one team and Warne is captaining the other. That was a huge, huge day,” Finch said on the latest episode of ‘Sony Ten Pit Stop.

“And there was a huge Indian presence at the ground. They were very loud, the chance of watching Sachin at Lord’s. And I was just thinking that if I run him out, I may not be able to get out of Lord’s,” he added.

Recalling the time when he had to bat in the middle, Finch revealed how it felt like batting with Lara and Tendulkar. The Indian legend opened the innings and scored 44 runs off just 45 balls while Lara, batting at No.3 scored 23 runs.

“It was good fun. All sportsmen are extremely competitive and no one wants to be shown up. When you talk about all-time great players, you had Sachin and Brian Lara batting in the top three. They are still very competitive people, they were switched on, they were very keen to do well,” Finch said.

“So all the chat was about cricket. And if Tino Best is bowling 90 miles per hour bouncers at you, your heart rate gets up and Sachin was the same. It was brilliant and it was great fun to play with him.”

It was a dream come true for Finch as he batted with four legends of the game. On the other team, there were stars like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist. Finch’s knock of 181 was a testament to the class of player he was, which we saw in the years to come.