Former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has stated that he never practised the upper-cut and neither had he planned for playing the shot specifically. In a YouTube video for 100MB, Tendulkar revealed that it was in 2002 during India's tour of South Africa when he thought of playing the iconic shot.

During a Q & A session, a fan named Anuraj Ande asked - "#AskSachin did you practice upper-cut shot or was it just an instinct when you were playing." In reply, Tendulkar said it was all instinct. "It happened in 2002 in South Africa, when we were playing a Test match in Bloemfontein. We were batting first and Makhaya Ntini was bowling around the off stump as he normally used to bowl short of a length. He rarely bowled length deliveries. Since he used to run wide of the crease, I could sight the line," Tendulkar said.