Sachin Tendulkar may be the only batsman in the world to score a century, but he also had sleepless nights before the match against Pakistan. He himself admitted this. In a program till date, he had told that even before the match against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup, he could not sleep properly at night. This had an effect on his performance the next day as well.
Sachin was asked by the anchor, is it true that you did not sleep before many matches? Pakistan also during India’s World Cup match? On this Sachin said, ‘It happened many times like this. Earlier in my career, I could not sleep before every match. I used to think that how should I bat the next day? What’s the planning? Who’s got to play? When to hit the ball, when to release? When to Defend? All these things were going on in my mind. Especially I still remember that in 2003 World Cup when we were about to play against Pakistan, even before that I had some trouble sleeping at night.
Sachin said, ‘Every time I would turn on this side in my sleep, I used to think that if I was bowled like this by Wasim, then I would leave or play. On the other hand, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi were all visible when he changed the direction. I think my body was actually getting ready for a big match. I realized at one stage that I was not getting enough rest as I needed to because I had a different body response in that match.
Sachin Tendulkar also described that match of 2003 as his most memorable match in India-Pakistan World Cup matches. He said, ‘I would call the 2003 match the most memorable match, because in that match, when we left the hotel and reached the ground, the crowd was already about a kilometer from the ground. On one side the flags of India were waving. Pakistani fans on the other hand. Many friends also came there from India to watch the match.
Sachin said, ‘Our friends had also come from many different countries. All these things made the atmosphere different. When you are standing inside the ground, when you shake hands with each other before a match and when the national anthem is played, that moment is different. It’s hard to tell you. The hairs stand up. You feel proud of yourself that I am representing India. And it is equally important that the result is equally good.
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Let us tell you that in that match played in Centurion, South Africa, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. He scored 273 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs. At that time a score of 270 or more was considered match-winning. However, on the back of the innings of Sachin Tendulkar (98 runs in 75 balls) and Yuvraj Singh (50 runs in 53 balls), India were able to make that impossible victory their name.