Mumbai, Mar 27 (IANS): On March 27, 1994, Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting for the first time in ODIs against New Zealand in Auckland and the rest, from there on, was history.

Before that, Navjot Singh Sidhu used to open the batting but as he was out with a stiff neck, then captain Mohammed Azharuddin asked the Little Master to go up the order as till then he was batting in the middle order.

Sachin scored 82 runs off just 49 balls and that was the start of a golden run.

"On this day in 1994, the start of something special. Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting (82 off 49) for the first time in ODIs in Auckland and it triggered a golden run," said BCCI in a tweet.

"I was thinking of asking him to open for some time. He was scoring 30s or 40s or 50s or 60s, scores that were good enough for someone batting down the order. But I thought we were wasting such a good attacking batsman batting so low. For me, he was the No. 1 batsman in the team. So, I made him open," Azhar had said while explaining the move.

There was no looking back for Tendulkar from there on as he went on to become arguably the greatest batsman of all times with a century of international hundreds to his name.

Currently, Tendulkar is standing tall with the nation in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. He has come forward and decided to donate Rs 50 lakh to join hands with the Indian government.