Dinesh Karthik recounts how he denied Sachin Tendulkar a century. Karthik narrated his experiences of the third T20I against Sri Lanka in Cuttack in 2009.
On April 24, 2024, the legendary Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar turned 51. Birthday greetings came in from all directions. Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik recalled an instance in which he denied the legend Tendulkar century on the eve of Master Blaster’s birthday. Karthik relived the moments from the 2009 Cuttack third Twenty20 International match against Sri Lanka. India was attempting to reach 239 points. With 7.3 overs remaining, Tendulkar and Karthik finished the game together after combining for an undefeated 74 runs for the fourth wicket.
When Tendulkar was in his nineties, the wicketkeeper-batter recallthe occasion when he struck a boundary.
“Well, I can give you both happy and negative memories. A good memory is that the first time I met him, we were on top of a flyover. We were on our way to the airport by bus when he arrived in his automobile and boarded the bus in the middle of the ride. That’s the first time I ever seen the man in my life. So that is a good memory,” Karthik said in a video posted by RCB.
“All right, I’ll give you bad memory and good memory. I have a good memory of meeting him for the first time atop a flyover. He joined us in his car and boarded the bus halfway through our journey to the airport. I have never seen the man before in my life. Thus, that is a nice memory “Karthik state in an RCB video that uploaded.
“97, not out, was the bad memory. I hit a six, and we won with four runs. In the end, I made sure he didn’t receive the hundred. I still receive a lot of criticism for it, and with good reason. Comprehensible,” he continued.
“Well, I can give you both happy and negative memories. A good memory is that the first time I met him. We were on top of a flyover. We were on our way to the airport by bus when he arrived in his automobile and boarded the bus in the middle of the ride. That’s the first time I ever seen the dude in my life. So that’s a good memory,” Karthik remarked in a video released by RCB.
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Sachin was someone that I look up to as a young kid: Faf du Plessis
Faf du Plessis, the captain of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has also interacted with some of cricket’s greatest players. Even though the Indian Premier League offers these kinds of chances, du Plessis and Sachin have never shared a dressing room. He did, however, remember their initial encounter and claimed he had always looked up to the 51-year-old.
“It was just, wow, that I experienced my first South African game against India. As soon as you walked in, you saw Sachin batting there for the first time. Growing up, I always looked up to Sachin because of his consistency. That, I believe, was the main thing that consistently stuck out to me. That first time I play against him, though, something stuck out to me—I mean, it was his first time, and for a small guy to have such a huge presence,” he continued.
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