'You aren't supposed to play too seriously' - Saeed Ajmal reveals Sachin Tendulkar's advice during a charity match

Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar has fondly recalled an old incident involving Saeed Ajmal during a charity face-off match between the Rest of the World XI against MCC XI played at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. The likes of Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, Shane Warne and many such legends of the game had come together to celebrate 200 years of the iconic ground.

After winning the toss, ROW XI opted to bat first and were off to a good start considering a 54-run stand opening partnership, before star spinner Ajmal ripped through the top and middle-order by reducing them to 68 for five.  However, the former off-spinner shared an interesting thing about what the skipper of the match Tendulkar had to say.

Speaking in a video interview with Cricket Pakistan, Ajmal stated how jokingly Tendulkar had told him to slow down after his flurry of wickets.

Saeed Ajmal recalls the conversation with Sachin Tendulkar

“It was an MCC match. It’s supposed to be a friendly match. The players are required to spend some time in the middle because the longer the game goes on, the more funds will be collected. When the match started, I picked up four wickets in four overs.”

“So, Sachin Tendulkar came running to me and he said, ‘Saeed bhai, you are not supposed to play this match too seriously. This is a charity match. This is for the people who have come here to enjoy, they will have food, drinks. This match has to not get over before 6:30’,” he further added.

Ajmal though was not ready to enjoy the charity match and told Tendulkar that he was feeling in good nick and wanted to cash in on getting crucial wickets for his team.

“So I told him I was just bowling well to play in a positive way. So he said that ‘I agree with you, but this is a charity match, so funds have to be collected. So enjoy the match, play cricket and have fun.’ So that’s what happened,” he signed off.

Talking about the match, Yuvraj Singh helped ROW XI recover with his splendid 132 and helped them reach 293. In reply, MCC won the match easily courtesy a blistering 181 from Aaron Finch.