Cricket got two of their brightest talents when Waqar Younis and Sachin Tendulkar made their Test debut in 1989 between India and Pakistan. The former Pakistan speedster recently recalled the then Indian batting prodigy and how his teammates were taken aback by what he has done in domestic cricket.

Tendulkar was making all the right noises in the age-group cricket. He slammed a triple century in school cricket and was only 16-years-old while making his international debut. His techniques and timing were so precise that it earned praise from all quarters.

Didn’t realise Sachin would be great – Waqar

Recalling those days, Waqar Younis stated they were in shock after hearing all the good things about Sachin Tendulkar. The former Pakistan skipper also said that they were not sure about Sachin’s greatness from the first impression.

“About Sachin, the entire India Under-19 team, they were just raving about him, saying how good that little kid is. He’s only a schoolboy, scoring triple-centuries at school. Who scores triple-centuries at school? Even scoring a century at school is an amazing thing,” Waqar said on The Greatest Rivalry podcast.

“We always knew there was this young kid coming on the block who was going to be amazing. At first look, he didn’t really give me the impression that he’s going to be the great Sachin Tendulkar, what he is today. What he has done over the years is amazing, on the field, off the field. At that particular time, I didn’t realise he was going to be such a big name in cricket. But his hard work paid off,” he added. 

Incidentally, Waqar Younis was the first bowler to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar in Tests, when he got him out for 15 on his debut. The Master Blaster went on to hit scores of 59, 8, 41 and 35 before finishing the series off with a knock of 57.

Tendulkar ended his career as the highest run-scorer in ODI and Test cricket and also has a staggering 100 centuries to his name.