In the heat of Dambulla, a little-known seamer bowled the ball of his life, what followed was a cheque, history, and a trivia nugget that still feels surreal
The countdown has begun, Asia Cup 2025 starts on September 9 in the UAE, with India kicking off their campaign against the hosts on September 10 in Dubai. While this year's talk centres on Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership and Arshdeep Singh’s 99 T20I wickets, the tournament's history offers more than runs and records. Sometimes, it presents quirks that sound even stranger than fiction.
One such story takes us back to 2004 in Dambulla, when Sachin Tendulkar — the most prized wicket in cricket — literally had a bounty on his head.
Credit: News18
Ahead of the 2004 edition, a UAE cricket official made a bold promise: any bowler from their side who dismissed Tendulkar during the tournament would earn a cash reward of USD 1,000. For context, the Emirates were making their Asia Cup debut, grouped with India and Sri Lanka, and their chances of qualifying for the Super Four were slim. For most of their bowlers, this was the only time they would ever bowl to Sachin.
That bounty went to Asim Saeed, a left-arm seamer who entered cricket’s folklore with a single delivery.
On July 16, 2004, India posted 260/6 at Rangiri Dambulla, with Rahul Dravid anchoring the innings with a sublime 104 from 93 balls — an effort that included 72 hard-run singles and doubles before he kept wicket in the second innings. Tendulkar, meanwhile, scratched around for 25 balls, scoring 18 before facing Saeed in the eighth over.
Credit: Wisden
Trying to flick through mid-wicket, Sachin only managed an inside edge. The ball flew straight to Fahad Usman at short mid-wicket. Caught. Dismissed. The UAE players mobbed Saeed, who wore a look of both disbelief and delight. He had just removed the most famous cricketer in the world — and bagged himself $1,000 for it.
Saeed finished with tidy figures of 7-2-25-1, and though India won the match by 116 runs after rolling UAE out for 144, the highlight of the day — at least in the Emirates' dressing room — was the “million-dollar moment” that actually came priced at a thousand.
The wicket of Tendulkar turned out to be Asim Saeed’s first and only international scalp. He played once more in the tournament, against Sri Lanka, but went wicketless. He never featured at the international level again. To this day, he remains the only bowler in history who can say that Sachin Tendulkar was both his first and last international wicket.
Credit: ESPN
For perspective, Tendulkar scored 281 runs in six innings during that Asia Cup, finishing as India’s third-highest run-scorer. Yet his strike rate of 72.42 reflected how difficult the Sri Lankan pitches were for strokeplay. His best came in losing causes — 78 against PAK in the Super Four, and 74 against Sri Lanka in the final. The master was still prolific but far from fluent.
The idea of placing a price on a wicket seems strange today, but it reflects the aura Tendulkar had in 2004. For the UAE, a nation still finding its footing in international cricket, dismissing Sachin was considered nearly impossible.
That Asim Saeed achieved this and profited from it ensures his name will always feature in the most peculiar chapters of Asia Cup history.
