Sachin Tendulkar celebrates memories of 'Desert Storm' innings on its 25th anniversary

Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar celebrated the silver jubilee of his ‘Desert Storm’ knock against Australia, in Mumbai on Saturday. As reported by ANI, the soon-to-be 50-year-old cut a cake to celebrate his historical knock of 143 runs in 131 balls against Australia on April 22, 1998. Tendulkar amassed the massive individual knock with the help of nine sixes and five maximums against the mighty Aussie bowling attack featuring Shane Warne, Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz, and Tom Moody.

As per ANI, Sachin Tendulkar shed his thoughts on the occasion and said, “I cannot believe this happened 25 years ago, now I have a 25-year-old daughter and 23-year-old son, you can all imagine how time flies. We all have changed and become more experienced, we go grey, and some goes bold, fortunately in my case I am still reasonable okay I would say (smiles)”.

🌪️ Desert storm in Sharjah!

On this day in 1998, the world witnessed one of Sachin Tendulkar's greatest innings as he smashed an incredible 143 against Australia 🔥 pic.twitter.com/m1h5C6xOFe

— ICC (@ICC)

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Why Sachin's innings is called the 'Desert Storm' knock?

India clashed against Australia on April 22, 1998, during the triangular series between India, Australia, and New Zealand in Sharjah. The match was a must-win fixture for the Men In Blue as they either had to win the game or lose by 30 runs or less. Batting first, the Aussies piled up a massive total of 284 runs at the loss of seven wickets.

Chasing the total, India lost four of their batsmen in Sourav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia, Mohammed Azharuddin, and Ajay Jadeja, before the match was halted due to an unexpected reason. The match was stopped for around 20 minutes as a desert storm hit Sharjah. India’s target was revised to 276 in 46 overs after the storm subsided.

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Interestingly, Sachin Tendulkar then went on to hit one of the all-time greatest knocks ever in the history of 50-over cricket. While the Aussies were blown apart by Tendulkar’s fiery knock, India fell 26 runs short of the target and ended on the losing side. However, the Mohammed Azharuddin-led side still managed to advance into the final, where Sachin hit 134 runs and lifted India to victory.

"I am double the age of the innings"

Further revealing his thoughts, Tendulkar said, “I feel lucky that god has put me in this position where a can give a reason to smile, just by having a cricket bat in my hand and that is something that I love doing all my life, that is what I wanted to be in life”. “25 years have gone, and I am double the age of the innings, it makes me feel really nostalgic that 25 years down the line we have gathered here to celebrate and celebrate my birthday in advance,” he added.