'Sachin once told me he couldn't play against short-pitched ball in Australia'

Former South African captain Shaun Pollock claimed that Sachin Tendulkar had once told him that he found it difficult to tackle the "short-pitched" bowling in Australia but managed it effectively by playing shots over the wicketkeeper and in the slip-cordon.

"He talked to me once about going to Australia and understanding he couldn't take on the short-pitched deliveries anymore, so he would ramp the ball over the wicketkeeper and slip," Pollock said in a podcast with Sky Sports.

Pollock, who took 393 ODI wickets and 421 scalps in Tests besides scoring over 3,500 runs in both formats, said there was a time when all their plans would fall apart against Tendulkar and they would wait for him to make a mistake.

"There were times, especially in the subcontinent, where you thought, 'I'm not sure we can knock this guy over'. We were hoping he would make a mistake, rather than had a genuine plan," said Pollock.

Considered one of the greatest batsmen to have played the game, Tendulkar ended his illustrious career after amassing 34,357 international runs -- 18,426 runs in ODIs and 15,921 runs in Tests. The batting maestro also is the only batsman to have scored 100 international centuries (51 Tests and 49 ODIs).