‘He Just Kept Laughing’: Rashid Latif Recalls Sledging Sachin Tendulkar From Behind the Wickets
“Whether it was Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting or Jacques Kallis, I always felt like getting them out while I was keeping. Tendulkar’s behaviour was unique. Even if I said something from behind, he never would respond or say something back, he just kept laughing,” said Latif in a YouTube video.
Stakes are very high when India and Pakistan lock horns in the cricket field and thus, there are numerous stories of on-field banters from their encounters. Recently, former Pakistani wicket-keeper batsman Rashid Latif also recalled one such incident when he tried to sledge India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar but failed miserably. The former cricketer said that he had a knack of unsettling the batsmen by sledging them from behind the wickets. However, when he tried to do that with Sachin Tendulkar, the latter didn’t seem to get affected at all. Instead, Tendulkar used to laugh. When Saqlain Mushtaq Sledged Sachin Tendulkar Only to Never Sledge Him Again.
“Whether it was Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting or Jacques Kallis, I always felt like getting them out while I was keeping. Tendulkar’s behaviour was unique. Even if I said something from behind, he never would respond or say something back, he just kept laughing,” said Latif in a YouTube video.
The former Pakistani captain further said that all the opposition used to love Tendulkar for his gentle behaviour as the right-handed batsman would torment the opposition but never utter a negative word.
“Others used to react. He and Mohammad Azharuddin were like this. They used to make opposition players their own. This is why everyone admires Tendulkar, especially wicket-keepers. He would slam a hundred, he would be attacking bowlers, but he never said a word. And you are trying to rile him up as a keeper to get him out, but he would never react,” the 51-year-old added.
Not too long ago, Pakistan’s legendary spinner Saqlain Mushtaq also revealed that he tried to sledge the Master Blaster but regretted later. If I recall correctly, it was the 1997 edition. Sachin quietly came up to me and said ‘I never misbehaved with you, why are you misbehaving with me’? I got so embarrassed that I did not know what to say to him,” Mushtaq told PTI.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 14, 2020 10:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).