Sachin Tendulkar and Ian Botham have played each other only once in one-day cricket
(04 January 2002)

One a batsman who could arguably be considered only second to Donald Bradman, the other one of the finest all-rounders to grace the cricket field. The tussle between the two in the one-day arena should have been a sight worth travelling many miles to witness, but Sachin Tendulkar and Ian Botham, unfortunately for cricket, played each other only once in the shorter version of the game.

The second match of the Benson & Hedges World Cup in 1992 saw England take on India; Tendulkar was then still wet behind the ears, although the moisture was drying fast as the world took stock of a prodigious talent. Botham, by contrast, was nearing the end of a long and glittering career and would retire from international cricket later the same year.

That game, though, belonged to Botham, even though he started disastrously. He failed to contribute with the bat, making only nine in a moderate English total of 236. Only Graham Gooch (51) and Robin Smith (91) made any significant runs at all, and even their efforts looked to be in vain when Ravi Shastri and Krishnamachari Srikkanth got India off to a flying start.

The induction of Botham in to the bowling attack slowed the run-rate down considerably. Tendulkar, who made 35 off 44 balls, succumbed ultimately to that pressure, edging Botham to Alec Stewart behind the stumps. Botham then had Vinod Kambli dismissed as well, finishing with stingy figures of 10-0-27-2. England, aided by some suicidal running from the Indians, won that encounter by nine runs, and Botham was named Man of the Match.

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