Call it fate or a sign from the universe, but the fact Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday almost coincides with his “Desert Storm” innings is only fitting.

Desert Storm is the name given to Tendulkar’s two knocks that won India the Coca Cola Trophy in Sharjah in 1998. He was 24 then. On April 22, he slammed 143 off 130 balls to reach the final and two days later, exactly 20 years ago on his 25th birthday, he hit 134 as India beat Australia. In Steve Waugh’s immortal words, Australia lost to Sachin.

Those two innings made everyone stand up and take notice of the Indian batsman who would go on to become the greatest in the ODI cricket. It also gave Indian cricket fans hope that the team could beat the big guns and

As the Indian cricket legend celebrated his 45th birthday on Tuesday, he spoke about 20 years of Desert Storm and how it changed Indian cricket.

Australia were a world-beating unit in the 1990s and defeating them was no mean feat. But Tendulkar was prepared, he was determined to beat the world’s best and did his homework accordingly with his coaches.

“During that period, the Australians were virtually unbeatable,” Tendulkar told Mumbai Mirror. “They had some great players but my preparation was very good. Before they came to India, I had prepared myself on the turning tracks. There was a possibility of Shane Warne attacking me, so I worked with L Sivaramakrishnan in Chennai. In Mumbai, I tried to face the bowling of Nilesh Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar and Sairaj Bahutule. It was proper practice in which my brother Ajit also helped me. All this came handy.”

Tendulkar also revealed that he wasn’t a 100% fit when he started batting in the final because of the draining schedule. But he knew that if he backed himself, he could wear down the tiredness and bat it out.

“I remember the night after scoring the 143 – which took India to the final of the Coca Cola Cup on April 22, 1998 – I reached the hotel at around 2.30 am. By the time I could finish with dinner and all obligations, it was already the next day morning. The next day was the final.

“In those days, we didn’t have the kind of support staff that’s available now. My body was still aching from that previous innings and I remember thanking my luck that we fielded first in the final,” he is quoted as saying by The Times of India.

The 45-year-old recollections were not without humour though, as he described the actual storm that interrupted the match.

“When I was batting there and suddenly I see this desert storm approaching us, it was like a Hollywood movie and the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Where is Gilchrist?’ because I thought I would be blown away and I was all prepared to grab him,” he told The Hindu.

The Master Blaster said he doesn’t like comparisons but conceded that Desert Storm was as impactful for India in ODIs as VVS Laxman’s 281 in the iconic Eden Gardens in 2001.

I would think so, but I don’t do comparisons. Correct me if I am wrong, I don’t remember us chasing high totals before that. These was no Twenty20 then and the approach to ODI cricket also was different those days. That’s why I felt it was one of the important knocks of my career as well,” he was quoted as saying in Mirror.

He isn’t wrong, that knock helped India build on the momentum to become a better unit in limited-overs cricket. In fact, many consider the post 1998 to be the time when the era of Sachin Tendulkar-powered confident India began.

Speaking of confident India, one can’t not talk about the current Indian captain, Virat Kohli. A few days back, Tendulkar wrote a profile on him for Time magazine’s list of 100 most influential people.

Will he 50 bottles of champagne when he gets to his 50th ODI century, as Sunil Gavaskar had done when he crossed his record of centuries?

Tendulkar said he would do one better, according to The Hindu, “I will not send but I will personally go there and share it with him.