Watch: Sachin Tendulkar's Magical Final Over Finish with the Ball in Hero Cup Semi Final, 1993

Watch: Sachin Tendulkar’s Magical Final Over Finish with the Ball in Hero Cup Semi Final, 1993: The first semi final of the Hero Cup in 1993 was something special and equally juvenile to all the Indian Cricketing fans. The match was being held on 24th November, 1993 at Eden Gardens.

Indian side, led by Mohammad Azharuddin opted to bat first after winning the toss at the Eden Gardens. In front of over a 100 thousand crowd, Indian batting suffered from a collapse and the side was bundled for a score of 195 runs in their quota of 50 overs. Azharuddin played the captain’s knock by scoring 90 runs and was the lone warrior for India.

In reply, India managed to keep things tight and there was marginal offerings for the batsmen to score freely. Things built up evenly and when it went down to the wire, the situation was that 6 runs were required off the last over with 2 wickets in hand.

Indian captain had a definite choice to make as to who should be bowling the final over of the match and save the team to secure its place for the final.

And Azharuddin, known for his unorthodox tricks, made a surprising move by handing over the ball to the then young, Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin was chosen ahead of the regular bowlers in the likes of Srinath, Manoj Prabhakar and even Kapil Dev.

Azhar wanted to take the pace off from the ball and that called him to opt for such a brave risk. As it happened, Sachin focused on the basics and tried to bowl straight without trying to experiment much and it paid off for India- a real blessing in disguise.

They managed to defend even 5 runs off the last over and Sachin conceded just 3 runs in the ultimate over and it was perhaps one of the most sensational victories for India and is cherished till date.

So, let us grab some time and go in quest for some cherishable nostalgia from this video of the last over.

India ultimately won the Hero Cup that year beating West Indies in the final by a margin of 102 runs.

Watch: Sachin Tendulkar’s Magical Final Over Finish with the Ball in Hero Cup Semi Final, 1993: