Heading into their three-day Harris Shield semi-final clash with St Xavier’s High School (Fort) in 1988, Shardashram Vidyamandir were the firm favourites. They had earned a big win in the quarter-final at the same ground – Sassanian, Azad Maidan – and boasted of a powerful batting lineup.
Two batsmen in the Shardashram team were in particularly good form. In the quarter-final, Sachin Tendulkar, two months away from his 15th birthday, had scored an unbeaten 207. In the match before that, he had registered a score of 125. Vinod Kambli, meanwhile, was 16 at that time and going great guns as well, having scored a century in the quarters. The writing was on the wall for St Xavier’s.
“There was a lot of competition in our school team because we had three-four top players. It was a healthy competition and we thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other. The problem was that the opponents really suffered badly,” Tendulkar would go on to say in an interview a few years later.
And suffer St Xavier’s did in that unforgettable semi-final. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Shardashram lost their first two wickets – Atul Ranade (42) and Rupak Mulyet (18) – with 60 runs on the board. But that’s when Tendulkar and Kambli got together and the rest, as they say, is history.
Kambli, batting at No 3, went on to score an unbeaten 349 while Tendulkar, in at No 4, remained not out on 329. The duo added 664 runs for the third wicket, which was the then world record partnership for any wicket in any class of cricket. Kambli’s knock was studded with 49 fours and four sixes, while Tendulkar smashed 48 fours and one six.
St Xavier’s had leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule, who would go on to become a giant in domestic cricket, in their line-up. But in that game, he was taken to the cleaners as well (0/182 off 27 overs). Shardashram declared their innings with 748 runs from 120 overs. They then bowled out their opponents for just 154 runs, with Kambli picking a six-wicket haul, to win the match by a mammoth 602 runs.
“That partnership was the turning point of our careers,” Kambli told DNA in 2018. “It changed our lives and opened the floodgates for our selection into the Mumbai and Indian team. Once we got into the groove, Tendlya and me toyed with the attack. After every boundary and six, we would sing Wham’s Wake me up before you go. Every time the 12th man came with a message, saying Sir (Ramakant Achrekar) has asked to declare, Tendlya would drive him away.”
What is also worth noting is that the man who was set to bat after Tendulkar in that match is also a legend of Indian cricket – Amol Muzumdar. The right-hander had to go through a never-ending wait to get his turn. He did knocks at lunch on day one, then at tea and at close of play as well. By lunch on day two, he knew he wasn’t going to get to bat.
“When they started off, I had a few butterflies in my stomach as I waited for my chance to bat,” Muzumdar wrote for Cricket Country in 2013. “As the partnership built, there was a bit of curiosity as to what is going on. During the drinks or lunch break, I would go into the ground and just have a small knock. Later, that curiosity turned into a bit of irritation – as a kid you want to go out there and play. Once I realised I wouldn’t get to bat, I decided to enjoy their game. Little did we know then that it was a world record and only found out two days later.”
Of course, both Tendulkar and Kambli went on to represent India with the former ending his career as one of the all-time greats. But despite everything they went on to achieve, that partnership at Azad Maidan remains one of the most significant memories for Indian cricket fans. The record stood for 18 years until it was broken in 2006 by Manoj Kumar and Mohammed Shaibaz, who had a partnership of 721 runs in an Under-13 inter-school match in Hyderabad.
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