Former South African pacer Morne Morkel on Monday recalled he felt ‘paralyzed’ on his Test debut, after knowing that his first over would be against the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Morkel, speaking on the pre-match show on Star Sports revealed how nervous he got when then South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock handed him the ball, and Sachin Tendulkar was standing in front of the stumps.
The incident happened in 2006/07 when Tendulkar faced the Proteas in Durban.
“I’ll tell you what. When I made by debut in 2006… I bowled my first over to Sachin. I remember Polly (Shaun Pollock) game me the ball and I felt paralysed. I thought ok ‘I am going to have to bowl this ball. To play against him in 2010… it was a Test match where on Day 1, there was a lot of rain. We managed to bowl India for 130 or so,” revealed Morkel.
After that particular incident, Morne Morkel recalled, he got a chance to bowl to the Master Blaster once again five years later, only this time, he was much more confident. The pacer recalled that Tendulkar had an answer for every ball that he bowled, such was his genius.
Morkel added, “Conditions got better for batting later on but just the way he went about his trade in that second innings was fantastic to see. It was a big bat to bowl to. The bat felt very wide. It was sort of plan we threw at him and ye he had an answer for. It was a special memory for me.”
Sachin Tendulkar had a fine record in the rainbow nation, he score six centuries throughout the six times he played in South Africa. Meanwhile, play has been called off on Day 2 of the first Test between India and South Africa, owing to the heavy rainfall in Centurion.
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