Former India player as well as batting legend Sachin Tendulkar sais that he had to “beg and plead” to open the innings for India in an ODI against New Zealand in 1994. He recalled the incident and referred to as a major turning point of his career. The jump from middle-order to opening the innings proved beneficial for him as Tendulkar finished his career with a world record of 49 centuries in the 50-over format. While sharing a video on LinkedIn, he recollected the memories od what had happened in the one-dayer against New Zealand at Auckland.

“In 1994, when I started opening the batting for India, the strategy used by all teams was to save wickets. What I tried to do was slightly out of the box,” the batting maestro said. “I thought I could go up front and take the opposition bowlers on. But I had to beg and plead to please give me a chance. If I fail, I won’t come after you again.”

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He further urged his fans to never shy away from taking any risks because of the fear of failure.

“In that first match (against New Zealand at Auckland), I scored 82 off 49 balls, so I didn’t have to ask again if I would get another chance. They were keen for me to open. But what I’m trying to say here is, don’t be afraid of failure,” the 46-year-old Tendulkar said.

Although he may have ended with 49 ODI centuries, his first ton in the ODI came after five years. It was in September 1994 when he smashed his first ODI hundred, against Australia in Colombo, while opening the innings for India. There he scored 82, 63, 40, 63 and 73 respectively in his first five innings as an opener. Sachin Tendulkar finished his ODI career with a whopping 18426 runs in 463 matches which is the most by any cricketer in the history of the ODI format.