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'We know Dada took his shirt off. But there's another story no one knows': Tendulkar shares 2002 NatWest Final anecdote
Sachin Tendulkar shared a never-heard-before story from the famous final of NatWest Trophy 2002, where India beat England by 2 wickets.
On Wednesday, a number of former Team India cricketers and fans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the famous NatWest Trophy final, where India defeated England by 2 wickets. The Indian team, riding on contributions from Yuvraj Singh (69) and Mohammed Kaif (87*), pulled out an extraordinary run-chase after a host of senior batters were dismissed early in the innings. In fact, at one stage, India were reeling at 146/5 in the 326-run chase; however, the youngster duo bailed the side out of trouble before steering the side to victory.
India great Sachin Tendulkar, who was dismissed on 14 in the run-chase at Lord's, posted a video on his official YouTube channel to remember the famous final. Tendulkar talked about the atmosphere in the dressing room throughout the partnership between Yuvraj and Kaif, and revealed that he had asked every member of the side to not move from their positions.
“By the end of the 25th over, we had probably lost five wickets. We were disappointed because we had lost wickets. And both batters at the crease were youngsters. Yuvi had started his career only 2 or 2.5 years ago, and Kaif had just entered the side,” Tendulkar said.
"But you could see that energy. They converted ones into twos, they were smashing boundaries. There were messages circulating from dressing room, we were communication in sign language. When Yuvi attacked, Kaif played a brilliant supporting role. When Yuvi was dismissed, Kaif took charge and took the game to the end. It was a nail-biting finish.
“We decided that no one will move from their spots in the dressing room. I was instrumental in telling that to everyone!”
The ‘Master Blaster’ also revealed that Yuvraj and Kaif came to him after the game to have a chat with him.
“Dada took his jersey off, that everyone knows. But there is another story that no one knows about. Yuvi and Kaif came to meet me after the game, they said, 'Paaji, our performance was good, but if we have to do something even better than this, what should we do?' I was like, 'you have just won the tournament for us! What more do you want to do? Just keep doing the same and Indian cricket will be fine'. They haven't disappointed us,” said Tendulkar.
