Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has signed his autograph on diverse things for his fans and players he has played with and against, and one such signature he put on a photo of his shattered stumps, bowled by former Australia Chinaman bowler Brad Hogg in 2007.
During the third One-day International against Australia on October 5 in Hyderabad, India chased 291 to win. Hogg bowled Tendulkar, who had opened the innings alongside Gautam Gambhir, in the 27th over of the innings for 43. After the match, Hogg had revealed in an interview to The Sunday Age, Tendulkar gave him in writing to the Australian that he would never take his wicket again.
“I got him out in one of the games, and there was a photo of it I asked him to sign for me. He did it and wrote me a message. Underneath his signature, he wrote, ‘This will never happen again, Hoggy’,” Hogg had told The Sunday Age at the time. It so happened that Hogg never took Tendulkar’s wicket again. But that autograph remains a “prized possession” for the cricketer-turned-commentator.
“It’s a bit of a prized possession. It’s an honor to be on the field with the caliber of a player like Sachin Tendulkar. To bowl at him is a great experience. It’s not overawing, just a great experience. If I’m out there, I’m out there to compete against him and make life as hard as possible for him,” he said.
India lost that match by 47 runs, despite Yuvraj Singh’s 115-ball 121. However, Tendulkar kept his word and never got out against Hogg again in his career. In his stellar career that spanned over two decades, Tendulkar scored 100 centuries across Tests and ODIs — a record that still stands. In 463 ODIs, Tendulkar scored 18,426 runs, including 49 tons, and in Tests, he tallied 15,921, including 51 centuries. In his lone T20I appearance which came against South Africa in 2006, he scored 10 runs.
On the other hand, Hogg played seven Tests, 123 ODIs, and 15 T20Is, in which he scalped 17, 157, and 7 wickets respectively, between 1996 and 2014.
