Sachin Tendulkar with the late India coach Ajit Wadekar in 1995

Tendulkar became the most destructive one-day batsman in international cricket post 1994, when he began opening the batting for India and Wadekar had a role to play in that elevation. Navjot Singh Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck for India's ODI against New Zealand at Auckland on March 27 and Tendulkar offered to open the innings.

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"I always had this feeling that I can go after the bowling up front. I told Wadekar sir that I can do it and if I failed, I wouldn't come to him with this again. He said let's meet [captain] Azhar and he was convinced too," recalled Tendulkar. An era had begun in Tendulkar's one-day career.

Before the Auckland game where he blasted a match-winning 82, he had scored 1758 in 69 games. He ended his career with 15,310 runs while opening the innings. "The great relationship we shared and built over two years, played a role in that decision. It was an out-of-the-box call taken on the morning of a match. It was a joy to work with Wadekar sir," remarked Tendulkar.

Also Read: Sandeep Patil Reveals Why Ajit Wadekar Was A Master In Man Management

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