Rarely known facts about Sachin: How a selector said, 'Sachin never fails'

New Delhi: Ramakant Achrekar was Sachin Tendulkar's mentor who not only recognized the unbelievable cricketing skills in the young boy, but also groomed and polished his skills to the extent that today Sachin, having played 198 tests, has become one of the iconic players in world cricket. Very few people know that in 1989, on the eve of Team India's Pakistan series, the selectors were divided when it came to selecting Sachin for his debut. India was to tour Pakistan and Sachin was already making headlines in domestic cricket. When his name came up for consideration, majority of the selectors were apprehensive if a 16-year-old schoolboy would be able to face up to the fiery pace of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and googly of Abdul Qadir.Finally, it was selector Naresh Tamhane who settled the debate by saying : "Sachin never fails”, and the rest is history. There are many more interesting facts about Sachin. One of them was when India toured England in 1996, and Sourav Ganguly came back to the pavilion at tea in the second test, and realized that his bat was making a creaky sound. Soon Sachin soon came up to him and said, “ You have your tea, I will tap your bat up.” Sachin shares a commonality with the great music composer Beethoven, Hollywood star Tom Cruise, scientist Albert Einstein and others. Though Sachin bats, bowls and throws using his right hand, he is a leftie. After his first ton at Old Trafford in 1990, Sachin won a champagne bottle as a Man of the Match award but could not consume it because he was still under 18 and law of that country did not allow a young kid to drink . However he opened it at his daughter's birthday in 1998.Cover drive is one of Sachin's favorite shots but in 2003-4 at Sydney, when he scored 241, you would be surprised he did not play a single cover drive. He was off color at that time and he curbed his natural instinct in order to stay at the crease as long as possible.Sachin is very superstitious as far as cricket is concerned. His superstition helped Anil Kumble achieve a perfect 10 against Pakistan at Firozshah Kotla ground in Delhi. He would give Kumble's sweater and cap to the umpire whenever he came on to bowl. Every time he did so, Kumble took a wicket.It's a known fact that India and Australia are bitter rivals on the field and off the field as well. But despite the bitterness, Sachin won the hearts of many Australian players. Andrew Symonds once signed a T-shirt, “To Sachin, the man we all want to be.”Sachin as a bowler helped India win the Hero Honda Cup. In the semi final against South Africa, he bowled the last over and restricted Brian McMillan and Allan Border. India won this game by two runs and went on to win the final against the West Indies.