“Enough class…”- Ravi Shastri recalls how Australia planned to sledge Sachin Tendulkar

The former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri, recalled one of the matches against Australia at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground when he faced several sledges from the opposition along with former state and national team-mate, Sachin Tendulkar. Shastri revealed that when Australia tried to go after Tendulkar, the latter was prepared for a response. 

Shastri recalled that Sachin Tendulkar planned to give it back to Australia in the same manner, while the former head coach suggested that Tendulkar shut up and reply with his batting.

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“I remember one at the SCG. It was Sachin's first tour. I had just reached a hundred, and Sachin had just come to bat. And he was being sledged by the Waugh brothers (Steve and Mark). 'You little this, you little that'. And Mike Whitney had come on to the field as a 12th man. I was having a pow-pow with Allan Border until I reached my 100. He took the ball in his hand and said, 'Get back into your crease; I'll break your head'. I turned around there.” Shastri expressed at the Summer of Cricket Lunch hosted by Cricket ACT.

Ravi Shastri recalls Sachin Tendulkar’s advice to reply to Australia’s sledging

Tendulkar has played 110 games against Australia, where he scored 6707 runs with the help of 20 centuries and 31 half-centuries at the best score of 241* at an average of nearly 50.

“There were mics, and you could be fined. So I went to the centre of the pitch and I shouted across the SCG, 'Hey Mike! If you can claim to throw as well as you can bowl, you wouldn't be the 12th man of Australia. And that was it. Sachin came to me and said, 'Wait till I get to my hundred. I will also give them some of this. Shastri reckoned.

“I told Sachin, 'You shut up. You've got enough class; your bat will do the talking. Let me do the talking. And from 100 to 200, there wasn't a word, but at the end of the game, they were the first guys in the dressing room with a beer. Play it hard. You've got to be competitive. That's what the crowd respects. That's what the opposition respects.” The former Indian spinner added.