Going by some of the comments on this blog, I think quite a few Tendulkar fans do not know how he became India’s opening batsman in one-dayers. Here is the information right from the master himself:

82 (off 49 balls) against NZ as opener in 1994

I was the vice-captain then and our regular opener Navjot Singh Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck. I requested Azhar (Mohammad Azharuddin) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to “just give me one opportunity and I am very confident of playing some big shots. And if I fail, I’ll never ever come to you again”.

I remember playing cricket on the same day (March 27, 1994). Since the match was in New Zealand, it took place much early with respect to Indian Standard Time. So we could go and play in the afternoon. And everyone who watched Tendulkar’s innings wanted to imitate it and belt the ball to every part of the ground. A defining innings in every sense of the word.