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“As soon as I came to the crease he (Tendulkar) made me feel very comfortable and gave me some advice. He told me that we had to win the match. I felt no pressure at all. I thought I was batting in the nets,” the 20-year-old Mumbai batsman said.
The youngster, who played a vital knock of 66 in the first final, said it was his childhood dream to play with the maestro whom he has idolised since he started playing.
“I was just two when Sachin (Tendulkar) made his Test debut. I never thought that I would play with him and bat with him for so long. I used to always watch him since I started playing cricket. I grew up watching his batting,” he said.
Sharma, however, said even though he has grown up watching and idolising Tendulkar, he would not try and copy the style of the batting genius.
“No one in the world can copy anyone. Everyone in the world has his own style. No one bats like Sachin and he (Sachin) doesn’t bat like (Ricky) Ponting. I personally don’t feel I need to copy someone,” Sharma said.
He added that he did not allow the pressure of playing a crucial game affect his nerves.
“I never thought that I was playing in the finals and that wasn’t on my mind. I don’t think anything else (while I am batting) and that’s when I do well,” he said.
Sharma said the feeling was “great” to be a part of both Twenty20 World Cup victory and the CB tri-series triupmh.
“It’s a great feeling to be a part of these two victories. I think it was a great effort from all the boys and it is great to be part of the victory.
“Playing in Australia and beating them in two finals gives you a great feeling. It is a remarkable achievement especially with a young team,” he added.
He said playing on the wickets in Australia suited his style of batting since the ball comes on to bat easily.
“In Australia, from the very beginning the ball comes on to the bat, even when the ball is new. But in South Africa, the ball does a bit (swings) initially so I feel Australia is a much better place to bat.
“It definitely suits my style of batting. I am a good back-foot player. I am confident playing more on my back-foot,” he said.
He said the racism controversy, which involved off spinner Harbhajan Singh and all-rounder Andrew Symonds helped in uniting the team.
“Despite all the controversies, we got together, that’s (the controversy) what brought us together. Personally, I was just concentrating on my game, what I had to do and what was my job. I was concentrating on that and I think that really paid off,” Sharma said.
It's amazing that Tendulkar is playing with someone who was 2 years old when he made the debut - and still playing well enough to be a match winner. Just shows you how special Tendulkar is regardless of what people like Manjrekar say. If only Manjrekar had a fourth of the talent Tendulkar had - may be then I'd give a crap about what he thinks...
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