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How Sachin Tendulkar gave bouncer practice to VVS Laxman before India vs England Test series - Watch
India won that Chennai Test match courtesy a brilliant fourth innings by Sachin Tendulkar and in the end went on to win the two-match series 1-0. Laxman, however, did not manage to leave his mark in the Test series. He had scores of 37, 26, 0 and 15 in the two-match series.
Former India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton sent Indian cricket fans into nostalgia by sharing an unseen video of Sachin Tendulkar giving bouncer practice to VVS Laxman before a Test match against England at Chennai back in December 2008.
In the video, Sachin can be seen bowling bouncers to Laxman inside the Team India dressing room in Chennai. The first ball was wide and Laxman decided to leave it alone and the next ball was directed towards his body which was dealt well by Laxman. All this was taking place in front a then newly-appointed Test skipper MS Dhoni.
India won that Chennai Test match courtesy a brilliant fourth innings by Sachin Tendulkar and in the end went on to win the two-match series 1-0. Laxman, however, did not manage to leave his mark in the Test series. He had scores of 37, 26, 0 and 15 in the two-match series.
Upton has been in the news ever since his book Barefoot hit the stores. Apart from making strong comments on Gambhir, Upton also revealed how Dhoni imposed fines to stop the cricketers from getting late during practice.
“When I joined the team Anil Kumble was the captain of the Test team and MS Dhoni was the captain of the ODI team. We had a very self-governing process. So we said to the team ‘is it important to be on time for the practice and team meetings?’ Everyone said yes it is. So we asked them if anyone is not on time is there anything one should give up? We discussed it amongst ourselves and the players, and eventually, it was left to the captain to decide,” said Upton.
Anil Kumble suggested a fine of ₹10,000 for latecomers, and Dhoni, in his own quirky way, added a different twist to the punishment. The former captain said that if a player was late, along with him, the rest of the side would also have to pay ₹10,000.
“In the test team, Anil Kumble said that the consequence would be a ten thousand rupees (10,000) fine which the person who was late would have to pay. And then we had the same conversation with the one day team and there also MS (Dhoni) said that ‘yes there should be a consequence. So if somebody is late, everybody will pay a ten thousand rupees fine!’ Nobody was ever late from the one day team again,” the South African recalled.
