Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar shared a heartfelt memory from his earlier days. Tendulkar recalled how former Indian player Gursharan Singh came out to bat at number 10 in an Irani Cup match despite having an injury in his hand. Tendulkar later went on to score a hundred in that match.
“That was my trial match for the Indian team. Gursharan wasn’t supposed to bat, but he listened to Raj Singh and came out to bat and eventually helped me get my 100. And I got selected to play for India after that. Later, Gursharan also became a part of the Indian cricket team. I thanked him profusely there, because it was a big thing for him to come out with his broken hand. His intent, his attitude mattered the most to me. That touched my heart,” Tendulkar said during an Ageas Federal Life Insurance event, as quoted by Sportstar.
“In those days, there were benefit matches for retired cricketers. So I told him in New Zealand, ‘Gushi, someday or the other, you will retire. You can’t play for a lifetime. But the day you retire and you get a benefit match, I promise I will come and play.’ And I’m glad that I was able to play his match…”
15 years later, Tendulkar kept his promise and he did play a benefit game. “I told him, ‘Gushi, I had promised you in New Zealand (in 1990) that I will play in your benefit match, and 15 years later, now that you have decided to host the benefit match, I will definitely come and play. That’s my promise,” the former India captain said with a smile, adding: “These memories still stay with me. And today, I can proudly say, whatever I promised, I fulfilled…”
Who is Gursharan Singh?
Gursharan Singh is a former India player who represented the country in one Test match and an ODI. The right-hander played for Delhi and Punjab and notched up a total 5719 runs in First-Class career while had 581 runs to his name in 31 List A games.
Gursharan began his first-class career in style, scoring a century in his very first match for India U-22 against England in 1981–82. Two seasons later, he was on the field during a Test match against the West Indies at Ahmedabad as a substitute fielder, where he took four catches at forward short leg.
His greatest, but also saddest, moment in a long Ranji Trophy career for Punjab came in the 1988–89 quarter-final against Bengal. He played a brilliant innings of 298, but ran out of partners. Punjab still lost the match, finishing 43 runs short of Bengal’s huge total of 594.
After years of hard work in domestic cricket, he finally earned a Test cap on the tour of New Zealand the next season. He batted at No. 7 in his only Test before being dropped. Gursharan ended his Ranji Trophy career with 4067 runs at an impressive average of 47.29 from 70 matches.
