I argued they could pick Sachin or Miandad. But there was a hitch: Gavaskar's intervention in Yorkshire's iconic deal
In 1992, Yorkshire had signed a historic deal as they roped in 19-year-old Sachin Tendulkar, who became their first-ever overseas player. But pulling off the deal took a bit of convincing on both sides. While it was Suleman' Solly' Adam to played the role in persuading the English County club to consider Sachin, his friend and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, convinced Sachin to agree to it.
Suleman, a cricket fanatic, who travelled from Gujarat in the post-partition period to Karachi and eventually settled in Leeds, Yorkshire, turned host for many Indian cricketers over the years, having arranged county deals for most of them. Sachin was among them.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Suleman recalled that in 1992, Australian pacer Craig McDermott had become the first overseas player to be signed by Yorkshire. Unfortunately, he became injured, which was a window of opportunity for Suleman.
He immediately dropped by the Yorkshire office and convinced them to sign an Indian or Pakistani—Sachin or Javed Miandad—given the Asian diaspora in the town. It took a while, but the answer came 'Yes,' with the young Indian being their choice.
"The minute I came to know, I ran to the Yorkshire club. I asked them, 'Why don't you sign an Indian or Pakistani? I argued that since Yorkshire has this large Asian diaspora, they could consider Tendulkar or Javed Miandad. That was the time the great Don Bradman had said that watching Tendulkar bat reminded him of his own batting. After two to three hours, they were convinced, they opted for Tendulkar," says Solly.
But there was a problem. Yorkshire had no idea how they would contact Sachin, which is where Gavaskar came into the picture.
Sachin was then in Australia in the middle of a series when the Yorkshire deal was offered, but he wasn't ready to accept it. Suleman then called up Gavaskar to convince the youngster and "history was made."
Suleman said: "I told him that he was young and he could do it. Later I asked my friend Sunil (Gavaskar) to talk to Tendulkar. While playing for Somerset, Sunil had benefited. Finally, Tendulkar was convinced and history was made."
Sachin played 16 first-class matches for the team, scoring 1070 runs at an average of 46.52.
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