Perhaps, he was influenced by the great West Indian fast bowlers who terrorised batsmen all over the world while Sachin was growing up. It was with the hope of becoming a top-class seamer that he went to the MRF Pace Foundation, only to be rejected by Australian great Dennis Lillee, who felt he was better off as a batsman!
Like most fast bowlers, Sachin loved dishing out the 'short stuff.' "There was a 'mischievous' side to him, which he revealed only to his closest friends. Right from his school days he loved bowling the bouncer. Whenever he had the ball in hand, he would love to 'slide' in a short ball," one of Tendulkar's closest buddies, Atul Ranade reveals and adds, "It would amuse him no end to see the batsman hopping around."
Ranade recalled an interesting incident from Tendulkar's school days that illustrates his penchant for 'chin music.' "Before a game, we were practising in our (Shardashram) school corridor with a golf ball. You know how a golf ball can bounce. Obviously, we weren't practising with our helmets on. Sachin bowled a bouncer at my fellow opener Rupak Mulyet which hit him flush on the forehead," he reminisced.
There was a time when Tendulkar the fast bowler ended up hurting a batsman too! "Mumbai were playing Delhi in a Ranji Trophy match in the 1990-91 season. In those days, a Delhi vs Mumbai game was like an India-Pakistan match. In a close game, Mumbai eked out a one-run first innings lead. Throughout the game, there was a 'bouncer war' on. After Delhi's Atul Wassan, Manoj Prabhakar and Sanjeev Sharma - all India fast bowlers - had peppered bouncers liberally at us, it was Mumbai's turn to 'return the compliment.'
"After Salil Ankola and Raju Kulkarni dished out the short stuff, Sachin chose to 'contribute' too. His well-directed bouncer resulted in a broken nose for Bantoo Singh, who was batting with a helmet sans the grille. Sachin told us later that he felt miserable after that as Bantoo was one of the nicest guys in the Delhi team," Ranade recalled.
According to Ranade, Tendulkar wasn't a bad pacer at all, especially early on in his career. "In inter-school cricket, he would pick up three or four wickets regularly. He was a skiddy customer and he had a nasty bouncer. He had a quick-arm action and could move the ball both ways. Even after scoring a hundred, he had the stamina to run in with the new ball," Ranade remarked.
A good example was the fourth Test at Adelaide during India's 1992 tour of Australia when he picked up the scalps of Mark Taylor and Allan Border. Later on, he switched to bowling spin.
And boy, he was good at that too.
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