Sachin once told me he couldn’t take on short deliveries in Australia anymore: Shaun Pollock reveals how Tendulkar tackled that

Heaping praise on Tendulkar, Pollock, who has 393 ODI wickets and 421 in Tests along with more than three and a half thousand runs in both formats, said there were times when South African sides waited for Tendulkar to make a mistake after running out of plans.

Often regarded as one of the most complete batsmen to have played the game of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, barely had any glaring weakness. He was equally good on the front and back foot. He had no issues against raw pace, could handle swing patiently and when it came to spinners, he knew how to manoeuvre the field by smothering the spin and also attack them when the situation demanded. His numbers – over 18 thousand runs in ODIs and close to 16 thousand runs in Tests – gave fair documentation of his abilities.

File image of Sachin Tendulkar(Twitter)

But even greats like Sachin Tendulkar have their moment of weakness. Former South Africa captain and of the premier all-rounders Shaun Pollock revealed one such incident about Tendulkar when the little master admitted to the South African great that he understood he couldn’t take on the short-pitched deliveries in Australia anymore.

Pollock also said how Tendulkar managed to find a way to tackle that.

“It was how well he understood his game and how he would adjust. He talked to me once about going to Australia and understanding he couldn’t take on the short-pitched deliveries anymore so he would ramp the ball over the wicketkeeper and slip,” Pollock said about Tendulkar in a podcast with Sky Sports.

Heaping praise on Tendulkar, Pollock, who has 393 ODI wickets and 421 in Tests along with more than three and a half thousand runs in both formats, said there were times when South African sides waited for Tendulkar to make a mistake after running out of plans.

“There were times, especially in the subcontinent, where you thought, ‘I’m not sure we can knock this guy over’. We were hoping he would make a mistake, rather than had a genuine plan,” added Pollock.

Recently, Australia’s 2015 World Cup-winning captain Michael Clarke had referred Tendulkar as the most technically accomplished batsman he has seen in his career.

“Probably technically the best batsman (Sachin Tendulkar) I ever saw. The hardest batsman to get out. I think Sachin, technically, didn’t have a weakness. Part of you hoped that he made a mistake,” Clarke had told Fox Sports.