Exactly 30 years ago, two promising youngsters, one from India, the other from Pakistan made their international debut in Karachi, Pakistan, but who knew the duo was going to dominate world cricket for the next two decades?
While Sachin Tendulkar went on to become one of the greatest batsmen of all time, the Pakistani speed merchant Waqar became the king of reverse swing.
ICC has decided to take cricket diaspora to the old golden days by sharing a collage of the photos of Tendulkar and Waqar from their debut test.
Here is ICC’s tweet –
#OnThisDay in 1989, Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis made their international debuts as teenagers.
The rest, as they say, is history 🙌 pic.twitter.com/o419M8n0cA
— ICC (@ICC) November 15, 2019
Apart from Sachin Tendulkar and Waqar Younis, the other players, who also made their debut in the same test, were Pakistan batsman Shahid Saeed and right-arm medium pace bowler Salil Ankola from India.
However, they could not emulate the same success that Tendulkar and Younis enjoyed in international cricket.
It was a forgettable test for Tendulkar as the right-hander failed to score big with the bat, but Waqar Younis grabbed 4 wickets in the game.
Waqar bid adieu to international cricket on March 4, 2003 after bagging 789 wickets in 349 international appearances with 35 five-wicket hauls and 5 ten-wicket hauls to his name.
On the other hand, Sachin Tendulkar hung his boots on 18th November 2013 after re-writing all the batting records in ODI and test cricket. He amassed 34,357 international runs in 664 international appearances with 100 centuries and 164 fifties.
India and Pakistan, the two Asian powerhouses haven’t played any bilateral series since 2012, however they have been playing against each other in the ICC events and Asia cup.
The last time India and Pakistan played a bilateral series, Pakistan won it 2-1. The series took place in India, but courtesy some outstanding performances by their bowlers, the men in green managed to emerge victorious.
