March 27, 1994 – When Sachin Tendulkar announced himself as an opener

Some decisions and moves will remain in the history if they are on the successful or the wrong side. One such move was made by the Indian team in the 1994 New Zealand tour of promoting the middle-order batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Mohammad Azharuddin needed a replacement for Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had a stiff neck ahead of the 2nd game of the 4-match ODI series. The Indian vice-captain Sachin Tendulkar requested his skipper to allow him to open the innings.

India lost the first ODI played at Napier by 28 runs with Danny Morrison’s hat-trick ended India’s last chance of winning the game. New Zealand elected to bat first in the 2nd ODI played at the Eden Park in Auckland. The Indian pacers caught the home team in troubles as the run coming became tough and they lost half their side for just 34. An unbeaten fifty from Chris Harris pushed Kiwis’ total to 142 before they were bowled in the 50th over.

In the chase, Sachin Tendulkar stepped up with his aggressive approach by smashing Chris Pringle for three boundaries in the 4th over. He and Ajay Jadeja found the gaps for boundaries as India cruised in the 143-run chase. Their charge helped India race to 50-run mark by 7.4 overs with New Zealand reeling at the same point in the first innings with 10/1 on the board. The opening pair added 61 runs in only 9.2 overs before Jadeja was deceived by Pringle’s slower one.

With a heave on the leg side off Gavin Larsen, Tendulkar completed his fifty in just 34 balls which was his 11th boundary. The carnage wasn’t done yet as the Mumbaikar hit few more to finish off the game early. The 11th over bowled by Larsen yielded 18 runs as Tendulkar smashed him for three fours and a six in the over. He hit three consecutive boundaries off Pringle in the 12th over by deceiving the fielding arrangement of the home team.

The deconstruction that continued for a couple of more decades:

Sachin put on 56 in 36 balls for the 2nd wicket with his school friend Vinod Kambli as India raced to 100 in 12.5 overs when the Kiwis were only 21/2 at the same stage. Left-arm spinner Matthew Hart got Tendulkar caught and bowled to end his blistering 49-ball 82-run innings. His innings contained 15 fours and two sixes as he scored 72 runs in boundaries which is 87.8% of his total score. India lost the wicket of Kambli as well before they reached the target in 23.2 overs to level the series.

Sachin scored a 75-ball 63 in the 3rd ODI in Wellington as India won the game by 12 runs. Anil Kumble took a 5-wicket in that game while Navjot Singh Sidhu (71*) and Ajay Jadeja (56) scored fifties. Tendulkar gave a quick-fire start to the Indian innings in the final ODI with a 26-ball 40 but lost the game on penultimate delivery as they ended up sharing the series with the hosts. This series helped Tendulkar to cement his place as the Indian opener in the ODI cricket.