'He didn't alter his behaviour, so you had to be quick'
Tendulkar didn't avoid cameras but he seemed to be aware of them, says Australian journalist and photographer Mark Ray

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne: friendly foes • Mark Ray
I first saw him in person at a practice session before the first Test in Brisbane in November 1991. It was his first tour of Australia. He was 19 and had already played 11 Tests and made one century. I'd read about this great young player and like all the media I was watching him closely.
I always tried to take candid shots rather than posed ones. To do that you have to be patient until you see what you want. He didn't avoid cameras but he seemed to be aware of them. He didn't alter his behaviour, so you had to be quick. He always seemed to be a private person. Shane Warne was a lot easier because he loved being photographed.
Ian Chappell was interviewing the two of them out on the ground during a practice session. I'd photographed Ian a few times at work in the Channel Nine commentary box and, like Shane, he knew I went about it quietly. I zoomed in a bit to take Ian and the microphone out of the frame then shot the two faces from a slightly lower level. I was trying to get a picture that would show their genuine friendship and admiration for each other.
I only chatted to him once. It was at Visakhapatnam airport. I'd gone through the security check and was chatting to Shane Warne. We watched as three security officers stopped Sachin and asked him to open his luggage. He did so and didn't seem too annoyed. When he walked over towards us I said quietly, "You're a very patient man, Sachin." He then looked a little mystified and said, "Why do they do that to me? As if I'd have anything dangerous in my bags." A minute later he walked over to a woman officer and said something similar to her. Obviously the three officers just wanted to be in the great man's presence a little longer. He was quiet, self-controlled, polite and impressive.
Probably his 148 not out in the third Test of that 1991 series. It might not have been his best but it had some great moments, and it was in my hometown, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In a fierce late spell on the fourth afternoon, Merv Hughes threw everything at the 19-year-old: pace, bouncers and lots of advice. Tendulkar stayed very cool, weaving his way out of trouble and occasionally leaning back and cheekily clipping a short one over the slips for four.
Mark Ray covered international cricket from 1988 to 2001, including tours to every cricket country except the West Indies. Between 1981 and 1986 he played 44 first-class matches for NSW and Tasmania.