When Sachin Tendulkar accepted elder brother Ajit's 'big' challenge, he could never do this again in his career

When Sachin used to bat at a young age in Sahitya Sahvas Colony in Bandra, Ajit was impressed by his back lift, swing of the bat and his ability to quickly 'read' the length of the ball. He took Sachin to the famous coach Achrekar. Although Sachin could not impress the coach the first time, Ajit requested the coach to give Sachin another chance. What happened after this is history. Refining his batting talent under the guidance of Achrekar, Sachin scored a lot of runs in school cricket and then in domestic cricket and was successful in making a place in Team India. Sachin, who was the pillar of Team India's batting, today holds almost every batting record and is counted among the greatest batsmen of all time not only in India but in the world. Sachin had said on one occasion, 'Ajit Tendulkar and I together dreamed that I would play international cricket. In other words, Ajit played the role of a brother as well as a guide and friend for Sachin. On one such occasion when Sachin was facing failure with the bat, Ajit challenged Sachin and made him realise his potential.

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The match in which Sachin and Ajit played against each other
Ajit has also played in Mumbai's Harris Shield tournament. There was a time when Sachin and Ajit were playing a cricket match against each other. Referring to this match, Sachin had said in an interview that it was a match which none of us wanted to win. Refreshing the memories related to MIG Club, the Master Blaster had said, 'This was many years ago. My graph in cricket was gradually going up. At that time there used to be a single wicket tournament in MIG. I was playing in that tournament and Ajit was also playing with me.

We were both in different pools and both were progressing in our pools. This was probably my only match against Ajit. Both of us didn't want to win it. Finally we met each other in the semi-finals. I think this was the only time we played against each other. Ajit lost this match.

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Sachin was challenged to remain unbeaten in the Sydney Test
Ajit has a deep understanding of cricket. Even after Sachin became an international cricketer, he used to advise Sachin in difficult times. In the first Test of the Indian team's tour of Australia in 2004, Sachin was struggling with the bat. In the five innings of the first three Test matches, the Master Blaster scored 0, 1, 37, 0 and 44 runs and he was the target of critics. Sachin was losing wickets while struggling with the balls outside the off stump. In this difficult time, Ajit challenged Sachin to remain unbeaten in the Sydney Test. Sachin told in an interview, 'I remember very well, my brother (Ajit) had challenged me. He had told me that since no one can get you out, are you ready to take the challenge of not getting out in this match. I said – okay, I accept this challenge, no bowler will be able to get me out.'

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Didn't hit a single cover drive in the innings
Sachin had said, 'When I went to bat in the first innings of this Test, I felt that the opposition bowlers were keeping the balls away from me so that I could play shots outside the off stump.' In such a situation, to live up to his brother's challenge, Sachin avoided playing shots outside the off stump. He decided that he would not play cover drives in his innings so that he could avoid being caught out in the slips. In the first innings of this Test held in Sydney in January 2004, Sachin scored an unbeaten 241 runs (613 balls, 33 fours). Interestingly, during this innings, he did not play a single cover drive. This innings brought back Sachin's confidence and in the second innings too, he contributed an unbeaten 60 runs (89 balls, five fours).

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The only Test in which he remained unbeaten in both innings
The Sydney Test proved to be a milestone in Sachin's career. In his Test career, he returned unbeaten in both innings only in the 2004 Sydney Test. Before and after this Test, he never remained unbeaten in both innings of any Test. In his long career of 200 Tests, Sachin scored 15 thousand 921 runs (51 centuries) at an average of 53.78 and also took 46 wickets. He has scored 18 thousand 426 runs and 154 wickets in 463 ODIs and 10 runs and one wicket in one T20.

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