Bloody nose: When Sachin Tendulkar’s deadly bouncer hit a batsman!

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has scared many bowlers with his ferocious batting in international cricket. As a bowler Sachin was pretty effective as a spinner.

However, fans will be astonished to known that Sachin often bowled medium pace in domestic cricket. He even hit a batsman with his deadly bouncer in a Ranji Trophy match in 1991. The incident happened during an ill-tempered match between Delhi and Mumbai.

During the match, Bantoo Singh saw the ‘spirit of Curtly Ambrose’ in ‘Little Master’. Bantoo was hit by Sachin’s bouncer that left him with a bloody nose and multiple fractures.

Bantoo was one of the pillars of Delhi’s batting between mid-80s and mid-90s. Tendulkar, all of 5.5 feet and days away from turning 18, went full throttle with his medium pace. He even bowled six bouncers in an over. 

Bantoo, Delhi’s number three batter, quickly realized that this little boy’s medium pace was not to be taken lightly. One of Sachin’s deliveries shot up and crashed on Bantoo’s nose. 

It didn’t help that he was wearing a helmet with a grill. Soon, there was blood everywhere. Bantoo lost his balance after the hit and skipper Sanjay Manjrekar himself ran from the slips to hold him and ended up with blood on his shirt too. 

Singh retired on just four. He was taken to the hospital where he found out that he had suffered multiple fractures on his nose. He eventually required a surgery and had to go two months on liquid diet.

Later in a newspaper article, Bantoo recalled that at the end of that day his father received a call from a concerned Sachin asking about the state of his nose!