'Sachin, Sachin!' Hashim Amla recalls his debut Test at 'buzzing' Eden Gardens; talks about Irfan Pathan's absolute seed

Around 21 years ago, Hashim Amla, one of the modern-day greats, made his at the iconic in Kolkata.

The former South Africa captain vividly remembered his experience of playing his first Test.

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

"I remember that Test," Amla said on the Beard Before Cricket podcast with a glint in his eyes.

"I was completely relaxed. It was just enjoyment and a surreal feeling of being with the South African team. Playing with Kallis, Pollock, and who you were playing against… Sachin (Tendulkar), Sehwag (Virender), Ganguly (Sourav), Laxman (VVS), you are playing against some crazy players, the guys who we had grown up watching for ten years. It was a totally enjoyable experience," he recollected.

Amla, who went on to play 124 Tests for South Africa, scoring 9,282 runs, and 181 ODIs with 8,113 runs, managed only 24 and 2 on his Test debut.

"I got 24 in the first innings. Irfan Pathan got me with a pretty good nut. The ball was reverse swinging and it kind of went beside my legs. In the second innings, Harbhajan got me out. Sorry, I was adjudged out; if there had been a DRS, I would have gone upstairs (laughs). Back then, appeal was everything," he said.

Besides this, the South African legend also shared his experience of playing in front of a packed crowd when Sachin Tendulkar walked out to bat.

"It was a great experience. Packed crowd at Eden Gardens as well. Really buzzing. I remember being 15 to 20 metres away from mid-off. I was at covers, and you couldn't hear a word mid-off was saying. That's how loud it was.


"That's when Sachin comes out to bat — Sachin, Sachin … the whole stadium was vibrating. The noise was just deafening.

"I have a huge respect for the Indian cricketers because they have played with that for as long as probable cricket has been there. That type of ambience in the stadium just makes the game so much more intense," he said.

Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here