'It's a nightmare!' When Sachin took down Australia

'What he said was remarkable'

VVS Laxman was eight Tests into his unforgettable India career when he was a late call-up to the XI for the second match of the series against Australia in March 1998.

From the periphery of a vaunted batting group, Laxman had in the weeks prior watched the preparation – and then performances – of a young man 18 months his senior, who plenty regarded as the most brilliant batter on the planet.

In fact, like most other Indians, he had been watching just about every cricketing move Sachin Tendulkar made for almost a decade.

"Wanting to play for the country myself, I watched all the games India played which were telecast in India," Laxman tells cricket.com.au. "From the time (Tendulkar) made his debut for India (in November 1989), the phenomenon really took over the whole country, because at the age of 16 to play against a mighty Pakistan, and perform in that fashion, batting fearlessly … there was no doubt he was gifted, but what really struck me was the self-belief and aggression he showed as a batter. That was something I very fondly remember."

Laxman had first crossed paths with Tendulkar four years earlier. While the Little Master was already strutting his stuff on the full international stage, his future India teammate was shining for the national Under 19s side against Australia. In three matches, the brilliant teen dominated a 'Test' series with scores of 88no, 5, 151no, 77, 36, and 84, and caught Tendulkar's eye in the process.

"After that was when I happened to meet Sachin at a match in Hyderabad," Laxman recalls. "He knew about my performances, about the way I batted. He followed the youngsters who did well, and he knew their strengths and how they could continue to progress as cricketers. So it was a very encouraging chat."

Image Id: 9633A08DD2AF469F9261A53489D2339F Image Caption: Laxman and Tendulkar went on to forge a remarkably successful pairing for India // Getty

Inside three years, Laxman was making his Test debut against the Proteas, with a welcoming Tendulkar his captain.

"The first experience, you were overawed sharing a dressing room with him, but Sachin would himself break the ice," he remembers. "He would be the one who would make any youngster coming into the changing room comfortable."

A half-century on debut was enough to get the 22-year-old Laxman on the plane to South Africa for the return series in January 1997, but that tour ended in heartbreak when he was forced to retire hurt in the third Test in Johannesburg. Again it was Tendulkar who put him at ease.

"I fractured my left hand and I was ruled out of the series," Laxman says. "I just couldn't control my emotions, and I was sitting in the dressing room with tears rolling down my face. All the players came and consoled me.

"When everyone left and I was alone, Sachin came over to me, and what he said was remarkable. He mentioned that I would have a wonderful career, because not many youngsters would have embraced the challenge of a tough tour of South Africa, but here I was, emotional and not wanting to go back to India.

"That said to him that I had the mindset that I wanted to compete against the best, and he felt that mindset was going to hold me in good stead in my career.

"Hearing that from your captain, and the best in the business, that motivates you to get better."

* * *

'I was a wreck'

Around the same time that Laxman felt his career was truly beginning, thousands of kilometres away in Sydney, a seasoned off-spinner was coming to terms with the possible end of his.

Blues tweaker Gavin Robertson had been selected for an ODI tour of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the spring of 1994, and debuted alongside his state teammates and long-time friends Mark Taylor and Mark and Steve Waugh.

Robertson had been on the domestic circuit since 1987, and was regarded as an economical spinner, if not a match-winner. His national representation was fleeting however, and after playing two finals against Australia with Australia A in the famous 1994-95 one-day series, he appeared five more times for New South Wales before finding himself out of the state set-up.

"I didn't have a contract," he says. "I was a wreck. Five weeks after playing those finals I was lined up at Parramatta Centrelink, and after three weeks of Centrelink I wasn't coping at all.

"Monday to Friday, I'd get a cuppa and a newspaper, and hide in Parramatta Park all day. I did that for just under four months."

Image Id: 18144433DF6F44D3A07C5EB6A76BE091 Image Caption: Robertson played with Australia A against the Aussies in 1994-95 // Getty

Robertson rediscovered his purpose and drive through a new job, and when time permitted, he continued turning up for training with New South Wales, generally in the late afternoon. Across the next two summers, he was picked to play eight one-day matches for the Blues, but his big break came when leg-spinner Stuart MacGill was unavailable for a Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide, a week before Christmas in 1997.

The then 31-year-old ran through South Australia in their second innings, finishing with match figures of 7-92 to help the Blues to a 10-wicket win.

"And then I went back to work," he smiles. "Six weeks later I got picked for Australia again."

This time around, Robertson was on board for a one-week, four-match whirlwind tour of New Zealand. He played every game and finished the series as leading wicket-taker, with seven.

"The next week, they said, 'You're going to India'," he recalls. "I was like, 'What?'"

According to Robertson, Test leadership pair Taylor and Steve Waugh were the men behind the selection, with MacGill having also been named in the squad.

"They were the two who got me in," he adds. "They said they wanted someone spinning the ball the other way to 'Warnie' (Shane Warne), and that was the only reason I got picked.

"I thought I was going to be making drinks for 11 weeks."

* * *

'The most frightening batting I ever bowled to'

All the talk leading into the three-Test series centred upon the battle between Tendulkar and Warne. It was a marketer's dream: India's 24-year-old batting phenom versus Australia's hard-spinning blond-haired bamboozler.

Warne had just rocked South Africa with 11 wickets in the third Test in Sydney, moving past 300 in the Baggy Green in the process, while Tendulkar was 58 Tests and 14 centuries into his remarkable career, having been a near permanent fixture in the ICC's top 10 batters since he was 19.

Yet the two hadn't squared off in Test cricket since the Australian summer of 1991-92, in which Warne's lone appearance was an inauspicious debut in Sydney (where Tendulkar made 148no).

"Tendulkar vs Warne was being billed as the heavyweight fight of the decade," Warne wrote in his autobiography No Spin.

Though he typically played it down, Tendulkar too was acutely aware of where everyone's eyes were drawn, and so like the diligent student he was, he set about doing his homework.

"I always said that this series was a contest between two teams and not two individuals, though in my heart of hearts I knew it was a very important match-up against Warne," he wrote in Playing It My Way.

"Knowing that I would soon be facing him, I studied Warne's bowling in that (South Africa) series carefully. It appeared to me that his biggest strength was the drift he managed to get, which meant that the batsman was somewhat blinded by the delivery if he was batting with a traditional side-on stance.

"As a result, I decided to open up my stance a little to Warne and to stand slightly outside the leg stump. I also planned to play him more from the crease and as late as possible.

"Having worked on the theory, I now needed to practice against the kind of deliveries Warne would use when under pressure.

"I started training in late January, with still a month to go before the series, and asked for the best spinners available in Mumbai to bowl at me from round the wicket into the rough outside leg stump. I was certain that's what Warne would do if I succeeded in attacking him when he bowled from over the wicket.

"All that practice in Mumbai … proved immensely useful, and by the time the Australians arrived in India in February 1998 I felt ready to face Warne."

Image Id: 1AC3A1F5155744F6A8809CA3C38649D4 Image Caption: Tendulkar became a phenomenon in India through the 1990s // Getty

The cat-and-mouse games began when the Australians were surprised to see Tendulkar turn out for Mumbai in their very first match of the tour. There had been some suspicion the hosts would keep their trump batting card away from Warne and co, lest they find an area of weakness to focus on during the Tests.

Tendulkar, evidently, was unfazed by such a possibility, and after Australia won the toss and batted through day one to reach 8-305, an overnight declaration meant the young superstar's moment was about to arrive.

Queensland seamer Adam Dale, who was making his maiden first-class appearance for Australia, found swing both ways early on to take the wicket of opener Sulkashan Kulkarni.

Dale didn't concede a run until his 27th delivery, but at the other end Warne had come on as first change and was immediately set upon in what was later revealed to be a calculated ambush of the master leg-spinner.

"I was captaining Mumbai and knew it was crucial to establish a psychological advantage at the start of the tour," Tendulkar wrote. "The most important thing was to attack Warne. I had instructed all our batsmen to take Warne on whenever he came on to bowl. I did not care if we lost wickets, but there was no way we would allow Warne to settle into his groove and dictate terms.

"(Opener Amit) Pagnis and I attacked Warne from the start. While Pagnis hit Warne for four boundaries in two overs, I hit him for a six (in the first over he faced him)."

It was the beginning of a remarkable four-and-a-half-hour assault. In just 192 balls, Tendulkar hammered 204 not out, with 25 fours and two sixes.

"He just went ballistic," Robertson remembers. "It was the most frightening batting I ever bowled to.

"He came down the deck at me and smashed the ball back at me and it missed my head, by I reckon, six centimetres.

"Then he came down again and hit me inside-out over cover for six. And I thought, OK, I'm going to get in a bit tighter here.

"So I got into middle and leg, he came down again, and went over mid-off, and I thought, Oh my god, this is a nightmare.

"So I went back to normal, he came down the deck again, and whipped me over midwicket for six. He was just brilliant."

Recalls Dale: "Everything people had said about him was accurate, and I had a front-row seat."

Robertson, playing just his second first-class match in almost three years, finished with 1-96 from 15 overs, while Dale conceded 38 runs from his final 5.3 overs. But the concerted attack of Warne had paid off spectacularly – in 16 wicketless overs, he conceded 111.

"Australia were veritable tourists while Tendulkar batted," wrote Malcolm Knox in The Sydney Morning Herald. "They were sightseers to a great innings, the first time an Australian attack featuring Warne has been put away with such masterly purpose.

"The question of how to dismiss Tendulkar must, for the moment, be shuffled backwards. The immediate concern is how to contain him."

After play, Warne weighed in on the mind games.

"There's lots of things I didn't show (Tendulkar)," he said. "Let's wait and see how he does it in the Test match.

"I only bowled one flipper, I didn't go around the wicket, I didn't bowl any top-spinners, I only bowled one wrong'un and no back-spinners.

"When he gets going, he's obviously a very, very good player … but Test matches are different. He doesn't have that licence to be aggressive when the whole weight of the country's on his shoulders and if he plays a bad shot he's out.

"In this game, he was able to go after us. If he got out, it didn't really matter, and if he got going, he'd keep going.

"I hope he'll try the same thing in the Test. We'll wait and see."

The experience had nonetheless been valuable for Warne, who admitted he would need to better adjust to Indian conditions.

"You've got to learn that a good over-spinning leg-break that turns and bounces in Australia doesn't do much here," he added. "You've got to undercut the ball, or put side-spin on your leggie.

"On this tour, I've got a few points to prove, not to anyone in particular – just myself. These guys are the best players of spin in the world."

For Tendulkar, Warne's foxing throughout their battle – in particular, his decision to not bowl from around the wicket – had not gone unnoticed.

"I was certain he would do so at the first available opportunity in Chennai," he wrote.

* * *

'We were moving parts in the Tendulkar show'

The Warne-Tendulkar battle resumed midway through the opening day of the Test series. After India won the toss and batted, their openers went to lunch at 0-86, with the dangerous Navjot Sidhu 52no.

Steve Waugh later described Sidhu as "the cleanest and most consistent hitter of sixes against spinners I ever saw", while Queensland quick Michael Kasprowicz, who spearheaded the Australian attack through the series, remembers the crowd rapturously embracing the opener's aggression towards Warne.

"Whenever Sidhu was facing Warnie, the whole crowd would just start chanting, 'We want six-er! We want six-er!'," Kasprowicz says.

"And you'd see Navjot's eyes light up, his bottom hand start wrapping around the bat, and then he'd just go crack!"

After a 122-run first-wicket stand, India lost two wickets in two overs, which brought Tendulkar to the middle. Facing Warne first up, he began with a scorching drive straight back past the bowler to the boundary. Four balls later however, he looked to repeat the shot, and edged to Taylor at slip.

"I still remember him coming back to the changing room and locking himself in the physio room, and for about one-and-a-half hours he didn't come out," says Laxman.

"You could see he was still really frustrated and disappointed.

"And then the second innings, he played one of the finest Test knocks in his career."

Before lunch on day two, India had been bowled out for 257, all 10 wickets falling for 135 to put Australia right in the game. The following day, the visitors edged ahead thanks to Ian Healy (90) and a fighting knock from No.10 by the debutant Robertson (57), who had also impressed with the ball, overcoming some early Sidhu carnage to take 4-72.

Image Id: 0C7B439E8E794C8DA68458A5AE816668 Image Caption: Navjot Sidhu regularly destroyed the Australians through the Test series // Getty

"I'd had a few quitting moments," he says. "I was 0-52 off 10, and I didn't bowl for two hours and I thought, I'm gone here. I'm back to work, back to the car and back with life.

"But then I thought: No, stuff this, I'm gonna fight back."

By stumps, Australia's hard-won 71-run lead had been erased as India hurried their way to 1-100 to leave the match well balanced with two days to play.

Day four then belonged to Tendulkar.

Upon his arrival at the crease, India led by 44 with eight wickets in hand. Robertson had just removed the dangerous Sidhu (64), and Australia were hopeful the breakthrough might trigger another collapse.

And it might have been so; from his third ball, and before he had scored, Tendulkar was struck on the pad by Warne, and a vociferous lbw appeal was turned down.

"It looked terribly, terribly close," Taylor wrote in Time to Declare, "but the umpire gave him the benefit of the doubt. As it turned out, it was our last chance."

A short time later, having taken time to settle, the Little Master began bending the contest to his will.

It began when he moved from 17 to 31 in three Robertson deliveries (4, 6, 4) and barely let up thereafter, as the little right-hander stuck to his gameplan of taking the attack to Australia.

Image Id: DE4DD72A37F24D6783A8122F4B3DE356 Image Caption: Tendulkar flicks Greg Blewett through the leg side // Getty

"The match was evenly poised when he arrived at the crease," wrote Steve Waugh in Out of My Comfort Zone. "Just under five hours later, we'd been privileged to have a free, up-close-and-personal lesson in how to pulverise an attack on a turning wicket and make it look like you were playing a knock against your brothers in the backyard.

"We kept on waiting for a mistake to come, especially as he was breaking the golden rule that says you never hit against the spin out of the rough, especially if you're taking the aerial route. And he was doing so against, of all bowlers, the greatest-ever leg-spinner."

Laxman, who three years on would be writing his own remarkable history against Warne and co with his epic 281 in Kolkata, remembers watching in awe at the way Tendulkar played the leg-spinner in particular.

"It was a phenomenal innings," he says. "What really stood out was the way he was able to play Shane Warne with ease, both down the ground and at the same time, even if it wasn't pitched short, he would rock onto the back foot and pull him through the midwicket region. He was so quick and nimble-footed."

Tendulkar's preparation had also paid off. His assessment that Warne would come around the wicket when under pressure proved to be spot on, and he duly seized the moment.

"I instantly took the attack to him and hit him over midwicket," he wrote. "From an individual perspective it was a defining moment in the game.

"By the time Rahul (Dravid) was dismissed (with India leading by 157), I felt in control. I went on the attack and scored at a fair clip, hitting fours and sixes with regularity.

"It was certainly one of my better hundreds."

Image Id: 36AD9EBB132D47F8B53A38AFCE9B626B Image Caption: Tendulkar celebrates an incredible hundred // Getty

Robertson was left dumbstruck by the performance.

"He absolutely annihilated us," he says. "We were just the moving parts in the Sachin Tendulkar show.

"He read you as a bowler. Next thing you know, you're going over deep cover for six and you're wondering how the hell it happened."

Kasprowicz, a prolific Shield wicket-taker who was playing his 10th Test and his first on the subcontinent, describes bowling to Tendulkar through that series as the biggest challenge of his career.

"He was at the peak of his powers," he says. "A good length ball outside off stump, he was so balanced, he could either hit it through cover for four, or get inside it and whack it through midwicket. Your margin for error was so small."

Tendulkar's rampage allowed captain Mohammad Azharuddin to declare with a lead of 347, and by stumps a shell-shocked Australia had slumped to 3-31. After finding themselves in a winning position, the rug had been pulled from under them by India's batting ace, and the final day was little more than a formality for the hosts, who completed a 179-run win.

"Tendulkar just smashed us," Taylor wrote. "Absolutely creamed us."

Warne meanwhile, had been battling a chronic shoulder issue that had only gotten worse through the Test.

"The competitive juices still ran fast and 'Hooter' (team physio Errol Alcott) worked long hours with me to keep them going," he wrote, "but the truth was that the shoulder was on the brink."

* * *

'It wasn't just Sachin we were worried about'

For the second Test in Kolkata, India captain Azharuddin changed the structure of his side, and Laxman, who had scored 538 runs in his three most recent Ranji Trophy innings, was recalled as opener. At the time, he was the unfamiliar name among a batting line-up brimming with explosive talent.

"They had Sidhu, Laxman, Dravid, Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Ganguly," says Dale, who played both tour matches but didn't appear in the Test series until the final match.

"So it wasn't just Sachin we were worried about – there were five or six others around him."

And so it proved at Eden Gardens, in a spectacularly one-sided affair that was over inside four days.

"It was a nightmare," wrote Ken Piesse in The Taylor Years. "The low point of Taylor's captaincy."

After losing two wickets in the first over of the match, Australia were bowled out on day one for 233. Batting with a runner after straining his groin, Steve Waugh top scored with 80, but the injuries continued when debutant Paul Wilson, having come into the side in place of Paul Reiffel (shoulder), also succumbed to a groin issue.

It was left to Kasprowicz, Warne, Robertson and part-timers Greg Blewett and Mark Waugh to share the heavy workload of 159 overs, in which India piled on 5(dec)-633 – their highest total in Tests.

Incredibly, each of India's top six scored 65 or more, with Laxman's return effort of 95 alongside Sidhu (97) laying a platform of 191 for the first wicket inside 50 overs.

Image Id: CDEFCEF638CF460DB0119229721C09D3 Image Caption: Laxman returned to the side with a typically stylish 95 // Getty

"I always found to perform well against Australia, you have to exhibit that aggressive and positive mindset," Laxman says. "It's not about throwing your bat at everything, but looking for scoring opportunities instead of being defensive in your mindset.

"Whenever the opportunity presented, we capitalised on it."

Tendulkar's blazing 79 included 12 fours and two sixes, and was struck from just 86 balls. It again highlighted the success of his methods against Warne.

"Once again (I) took the attack to Shane Warne," he wrote. "The plan … was working and without his wickets the Australians were in trouble.

"I hardly stepped out to him all series and, more often than not, kept hitting him towards midwicket with a horizontal bat whenever he tried to extract extra spin from leg stump or slightly outside.

"By playing from the crease and by using the horizontal bat, I reckoned I had opened up the option of punishing him if he bowled short and could also play the cut shot on the off-side."

Warne finished with 0-147 from 42 overs, which would remain the worst return of his 145-Test career.

"As the series went on, I struggled to get my arm high enough to release the ball from anywhere near the right position," he wrote.

"The headaches were unbelievable, I struggled with sleep and was hardly able to train – in short, I was struggling and in pain."

The series was surrendered meekly on day four when Australia were bowled out for 181 to bring about an innings-and-219-run defeat – their heaviest in 60 years.

* * *

'I need another 10 fielders'

At a function between the second and third Tests, Steve Waugh and Robertson struck up a conversation with India spin legend Erapalli Prasanna.

"He'd gotten into a bit of a debate with myself and 'Tugga' (Waugh)," Robertson recalls. "But he'd told me some very key things to do in India."

The off-spinner tucked the ideas – which were based largely around the pace he was bowling – away in the back of his mind, then put them into practice in the days leading up to Australia's final Test assignment, in Bangalore.

With Wilson added to the injury list, and Damien Fleming – who had flown in as cover – falling ill, Dale was called up to make his Test debut, while the vastly-experienced Darren Lehmann also earned a maiden cap.

"It was just wonderful to be wearing the Baggy Green – it was a boyhood dream and it still makes me smile," says Dale. "But there were definitely nerves, and when you look at their line-up and the conditions, it was a real challenge.

"We'd been soundly beaten in Kolkata, so the pressure was on. We had the best spin bowler in the world but Gavin Robertson, 'Kasper' (Kasprowicz) and I were inexperienced at that level.

"Steve Waugh was out injured, and I daresay the odds were against us to get a result that was different to the other two Tests."

Image Id: 5914164EAE3B4E8C8AD075FE888A3C58 Image Caption: Lehmann, Robertson and Dale all made their Test debuts in the '98 series against India // Getty

India found themselves at a precarious 3-110 shortly after Tendulkar came to the middle. Robertson had already copped another mauling from Sidhu.

"I was brought on 10 minutes before lunch by Mark Taylor, and I had that moment of thinking, Beauty, I'll be able to get two overs in, a couple of maidens, I'll get warmed up, and get going in the next session," he says.

"Well do you know how difficult it is to eat butter chicken when you're 0-31 off two?"

As with much of the series, Tendulkar owned the middle session, despite taking 29 minutes to get off the mark. His next 34 came at a run a minute, and he was away. After reaching 50 from 68 balls, he upped the ante, racing to his hundred in the final session from another 39.

"I wanted to get a wicket – to contribute," Dale recalls. "I remember the outfield was fast and green, but the wicket, well there was no grass at all.

"And Sachin was technically excellent. The ball just stayed hit. His timing was amazing, and he just didn't miss, which meant you just couldn't miss, but often he would hit your good balls for four anyway.

"I only played a minute at that level but the difference I found with Tendulkar and (Brian) Lara – and I reckon Adam Gilchrist was a bit the same – they could hit the same ball to three different spots depending on the field.

"And that first day bowling to Sachin, I remember thinking, This guy's just unbelievable – I need another 10 fielders."

Warne, shoulder seemingly hanging on by a thread, had hitherto produced some of his finest bowling of the series, bowling Sidhu and then knocking over Dravid with a trademark dipping leg break. That he was still throwing punches with the series lost and his shoulder in desperate need of medical attention was a testament to his fierce competitive desire.

"Warnie had a bad shoulder but he never, ever backed down," Robertson says. "He always saw the next over, or the next ball, as a chance. He was always, 'give me the ball'."

Image Id: 7503EB5C46324C559B9BC0EFCF21BEF3 Image Caption: Warne enjoyed one of his best spells of the series in the first innings of the third Test // Getty

Before play the following morning, Dale and Kasprowicz were walking across the outfield when they spotted Australian fast-bowling legend Dennis Lillee.

"He appeared like an oasis in the desert," grins Kasprowicz. "The best fast-bowling resource of all time."

"The godfather," adds Dale.

The pair rushed over to him, eager to soak up whatever morsels of wisdom the great DK Lillee was prepared to throw their way.

"I said to him, 'You've seen Tendulkar – the way he bats, his style – is there anything you've spotted that we should actually target?'" recalls Kasprowicz.

"He looked at us, looked skyward, rubbed his beard and said: 'Nah mate, just make sure you walk off with pride'."

Tendulkar raced to 177 from 206 balls before Dale managed to sneak one through his defences, ending another five-hour epic from the series' undisputed star.

"It was straight, nipped back and went through bat-pad and bowled him," he says. "I tend to just say he was very tired and missed it, but it did deviate – it was a good ball and I'm proud of it, but Sachin certainly had the better of everyone.

"I remember Steve Waugh saying that we never saw Bradman bat, but we saw the closest thing to him in Sachin."

Thanks to a superb 153no from Mark Waugh, who was battling a nasty bout of gastro, Australia put up their best batting display of the series to reach 400 – just 24 short of India's first-innings total.

Robertson, who had bounced back in the first innings with two wickets after lengthening his run-up and quickening his pace, then claimed 3-28 second time around, including the big wickets of Dravid and Ganguly.

It was Kasprowicz though, who stole the show. The strapping quick had heeded some advice about reverse swing which had been generously shared by opposing paceman Javagal Srinath. Across 18 overs, he employed it expertly, claiming 5-28 (including Tendulkar, caught and bowled off a slower ball for 31) as India were routed for 169.

Image Id: 9FF5C866E3154B7E9A9A4948B09424BC Image Caption: Kasprowicz hangs onto a caught and bowled chance from Tendulkar // Getty

It was a momentous turnaround for the Australians, who then sailed to their target of 194 off the back of a terrific 102no from Taylor to earn a deserved consolation victory.

Tendulkar, predictably, was named Player of the Series, after piling on 446 runs at 111.5.

"It was one of the most intense series I played in my career, and one of the most personally successful," he wrote. "Weeks of rigorous practice had paid off and it was a deeply satisfying feeling."

* * *

'He can't make any more runs'

The Test series was over, yet Tendulkar was not done with the Australians. In an ODI tri-series that followed, he scored a match-winning 100 from 89 balls that included seven sixes.

Not two weeks later, during another ODI tri-series – this time in Sharjah – he was at it again.

"I remember (head coach) Geoff Marsh went home and 'AB' (Allan Border) came over as coach," says Dale. "We were sitting in a team meeting with three games to go in the one-day series and AB and Warnie and Stephen, they kind of all said, 'We can't talk about him anymore – he can't make any more runs'.

Image Id: E02E00502EE74B7DAC83085D9C2EE48F Image Caption: Tendulkar continued his red-hot form through the ODIs // Getty

"He goes out there the next day and makes 80, and then we're getting ready for the next game and we go, 'We can't talk about him anymore – he's not gonna make any more runs, surely'.

"And he gets a hundred (143 off 131 – the innings that became known as 'Desert Storm'). Then we play him in the final and sure enough, he gets another hundred. He was just unbelievable."

The last of those innings – a jaw-dropping 134 from 131 balls as India chased down 273 with nine balls to spare to win the series – came on Tendulkar's 25th birthday.

Across two formats, 10 matches and 59 days, the diminutive superstar had plundered Australia for 1130 runs at 130, scoring six hundreds while striking at 93.93.

"My close-up look at Sachin Tendulkar during that tour confirmed what I had thought for a long time," wrote Taylor. "He was the best batsman in the world."