Batting great Sachin Tendulkar has revealed that he never really practised playing his infamous upper-cut ever in his career. The shot, in fact, was a sudden discovery during India's tour of South Africa in 2002. During a Q/A session for 100MB, the master blaster was particularly asked about the shot and he said that the discovery was rather an instinct than being a text-book shot.
"It happened in 2002 in South Africa, when we were playing a Test match in Bloemfontein. We were batting first and Makhaya Ntini was bowling around the off stump as he normally used to bowl short of a length. He rarely bowled length deliveries. Since he used to run wide of the crease, I could sight the line," Tendulkar said.
"The South African pitches offer enough bounce. The normal tendency to deal with those bouncers is to go top of the bowl. And if it bounces more than usual for somebody of my height, why not get under it and still be aggressive and attacking," the 47-year-old added.
"That was something I felt. Instead of getting on top of the ball and trying to keep it all along the ground, get under it and play it towards third man boundary, utilising the pace," he further said.
The 47-year-old also said that this shot left several pacers baffled as he often started using it to get a boundary on the short pitch deliveries. "That shot disturbed a number of fast bowlers because they bowl bouncers to concede a dot ball. But I converted those into boundaries. I actually didn't plan anything. Sometimes you just have to let your natural instincts take over after getting at the crease. And that's what I did," said Tendulkar.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Alexander Joe
