Sachin Tendulkar's international debut for India against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1989is part of cricketing folkfore. However, not many are aware that Tendulkar first got the taste of international cricket when he took the field for a Pakistan team that was playing against India at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Tendulkar recalled the incident in his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’ of taking the field for Pakistan two years before his India debut in 1987.

The India legend also wonders whether the then-Pakistan captain Imran Khan remembers employing him in the field.

“I don’t know whether Imran Khan remembers this or has any idea that I once fielded for his Pakistan team,” wrote Tendulkar in his book.

The Master Blaster further recalls that Pakistan cricketers Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir had left the field during the lunch break. As the standby fielder, Sachin was asked to field for the visiting team.

Tendulkar also mentioned one incident on how he nearly caught Kapil Dev out in the match, but couldn’t get to the ball despite running a long way.

He explained that if he had been placed at mid-on rather than long-on, he could have taken part in a dismissal for Pakistan.

Raj Singh Dungarpur is credited for the selection of Tendulkar for the Indian tour of Pakistan in late 1989.

The Indian selection committee had shown interest in selecting Tendulkar for the tour of the West Indies held earlier that year, but eventually did not select him, as they did not want him to be exposed to the dominant fast bowlers of the West Indies so early in his career. Tendulkar made his Test debut against Pakistan in Karachi in November 1989 aged 16 years and 205 days.

He made 15 runs, being bowled by Waqar Younis, who also made his debut in that match, but was noted for how he handled numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack. In the fourth and final Test in Sialkot, he was hit on the nose by a bouncer bowled by Younis, but he declined medical assistance and continued to bat even as he gushed blood from it.