Muttiah Muralitharan reflects on facing Tendulkar's bat

Brut India

He was a notorious wicket-taker and a feared bowler, but he was worried when one Indian batsman came on the field: Sachin Tendulkar.

Transcript

00:00When Sachin comes, everyone open praise, get him out quickly.

00:30No cricketer can be like, what we say about the Bradman, same thing like Sachin, because

00:3714 years getting a first class 100 and playing 7 people in Mumbai, right, are national players.

00:49Getting a chance into that and getting a 100 and debut 100 or he got in the debut, I think,

00:5514 years.

00:5616 years he represent the country, 17 years he gets a 100 for them.

01:01That is impossible.

01:02Those are kids and playing Vakha, Eunice and Vasim Akram at the peak at 16 years, you imagine

01:10nowadays 16 years playing Brett Lee, impossible.

01:15So more than his records and everything and also carrying the shoulders of billion people,

01:22it is something special because not for one year, 25 years.

01:28He brought literally a hope of a billion hearts every time he came on to the field.

01:34Everyone want him to get a 100.

01:36We all wept when he retired from cricket, even if there were times we were frustrated

01:41also, but everybody wept when he retired.

01:45So then other thing is, when I saw him, he was a dashing batsman.

01:51He comes in number six, gets 20 balls, 40, he hits hard.

01:56The pressure came, later part, the responsibility of the billion people because everyone expected

02:02to then he became a little slower and consistent.

02:08So when you play against a person like Sachin Tendulkar, as a bowler, what goes through

02:14your mind?

02:15See, I know my skill, what I have to do.

02:21I know what he will try to do, mainly guess game, they are like a chess game, right?

02:27When you play and you hope and pray, get him out quick as possible.

02:32So that's the only thing I think.

02:35So each captain of yours would have told you then that get this guy out.

02:39No, every week it is important when Sachin comes, everyone hope and prays, get him out

02:43quickly.

02:44We had an incident in 2007 in West Indies.

02:51So that's the tour, we were India, Sri Lanka, Bermuda and Bangladesh.

02:58Only two teams can go to the qualifiers.

03:06So India versus Sri Lanka, we had to play, we played.

03:14So we thought Sachin is going to open that World Cup.

03:18Thank God he didn't open, he was in number four.

03:22When Dilara Fernando got his wicket, they were only chasing 246.

03:30We were hoping and praying that when you get Sachin, that's over.

03:36So that happened.

03:37And again in 1996 World Cup, in the wicket that we used to turn a lot.

03:44And when Sachin was batting, he got a 60 runs on the 74, no loss.

03:49It looks like it's a batting wicket.

03:51Yeah.

03:52When he got out, India was seven down, four unrented.

03:57So he makes things easier than others, he plays like that.

04:04So for him, him to get him out is more important for us.

04:08It's like, you know, the whole of India, when Sachin gets out, their hopes go down.

04:16Same way, our team hopes goes up when Sachin gets out.

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