Yorkshire’ target to terrorise Sachin Tendulkar (From Gazette & Herald)

Tykes’ target to terrorise Sachin Tendulkar

11:05am Thursday 18th October 2012 in Sport By Graham Hardcastle

Yorkshire’s bowlers are gunning for the prized scalp of Sachin Tendulkar today as they look to get their Champions League t20 group campaign back on track with a win against Mumbai Indians in Cape Town (4.30pm UK time).

Tendulkar is the star of a strong Mumbai line-up, and it will be a landmark moment in the career of whoever picks up his wicket.

“It’s going to be a fantastic experience for the lads, and they all want to get him out. Whoever does will be a very proud man,” said director of professional cricket Martyn Moxon, who played with Tendulkar during his time as Yorkshire’s overseas player in 1992.

‘The Little Master’, as Tendulkar is widely known, was only 19 when he made his White Rose bow, scoring seven in a Benson & Hedges Cup match against Kent at Headingley.

He had made his Test debut as a 16-year-old, and it was already clear he was something special according to Moxon.

“From the outset you could see that he was a player of immense quality,” said the former opening batsman.

“Some of the innings he played were outstanding, and he was just a very humble, well-spoken, well-mannered young man. He was a pleasure to have around.

“The fact he was Yorkshire’s first overseas player at such a young age, and the publicity that it created and how he handled it, he was very professional.

“He read up about the history of the club, so in the press conference he was able to show his knowledge of the club. He’d obviously done his homework. He was a very impressive young man.

“The mark of the man was that he invited us all to his wedding in Mumbai, which I thought was a fantastic gesture. I couldn’t go, but Phil Carrick went. Just to get an invite was something special.”

Now 39 years old, Tendulkar went on to score 1,671 runs from 35 matches in all competitions for Yorkshire, including two hundreds.

“I remember him playing the spinners, John Emburey and Phil Tufnell, against Middlesex at Uxbridge when the ball was turning a bit. That was when he really showed his quality,” continued Moxon.

“Then he got a hundred against Durham up at the Racecourse Ground to win us the game, which was an outstanding innings. They are the two innings that stick out in my mind really.”

After Tuesday’s heavy loss to Sydney Sixers, Yorkshire cannot afford to lose again today in order to realistically keep alive their semi-final hopes.

“This is a bonus for us being in this part of the competition,” said Moxon. “Obviously we want to make a good account of ourselves because we are very disappointed with the defeat against Sydney.

“We’ve got character, and that’s what we need to show now. We need to come back fighting hard.”

Mumbai also have Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Lasith Malinga, Richard Levi, Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard in their squad, but the Indian Premier League teams seem to have struggled with the pace and bounce on offer from South African pitches.

“The pitches are different to India,” added Moxon. “To be honest, we’re still trying to come to terms with conditions too. When people hit their lengths hard, it’s very difficult to get the ball away.”

Mumbai lost their opening group ‘B’ match against Highveld Lions in Johannesburg on Sunday.