‘I thought first innings of my life will also be my last’

Sports Desk: Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as the god of cricket. But did you know that he thought about quitting after his first Test innings itself. In a recent interview on Breakfast with Champions, Tendulkar revealed that he thought that his first innings in Karachi against Pakistan will also be his last as he felt completely out of place.

Tendulkar said, “First innings of my life, in Karachi, I thought it would be my first and last innings. In the first match, I had no idea. Waqar (Younis) bowling from one end, Wasim (Akram) going full-throttle from the other. And they had just started reverse-ball. To go there and play suddenly, I was completely out of place.”

He was, however, pushed by his teammates to give his career some more time. He said, “I took advice from everyone in the dressing room and they told me to spend some more time on it. ‘This is international cricket. You’re playing possibly the best bowling attack in the world. Give them that respect.’ Second innings of my life, I scored 59 runs. I got back to the dressing room and looked at myself and said, ‘You’ve done it.'”

Tendulkar, who entered the world of cricket because his family wanted him to channelise his energy on the cricket ground, said that his triple century in Mumbai was one of the most important innings of his life. He said, “I feel my triple hundred at Brabourne Stadium was one of the important innings of my life. Because that is when Gavaskar and all these big personalities saw me.”

The Master-Blaster confessed that he wasn’t disciplined and punctual since the beginning. “Wasn’t so disciplined in the beginning but learned with time that 8am does not mean 8.05 am. When your senior players waited for you in the bus while you were late, you had to become disciplined. But I developed a good habit out of it.”

After Tendulkar’s tennis elbow episode, Tendulkar said that he tried to change his bat to a lighter one but that did not work out for him. “Not just 1 billion doctors but suddenly India had 1 billion coaches as well saying the bat is very heavy. I still got back to the same bat, never changed my bat. Once I tried to use a light bat but I just couldn’t get my bat swing and to change that does not make sense.”

Praising his coach Ramakant Vithal Achrekar at that time, Tendulkar said, “Any other coach would have told me to give the new bat some time or just simply to do it. That also doesn’t work. And that’s whyy Achrekar Sir was a special coach. He was strict but aware. He would immediately figure out that this is clicking and this is not.”

Narrating a story from his childhood, Tendulkar said, “We used to have limited time to play back then which meant we have to fit 2 innings in that time. So all the right-handed had to bat left-handed and vice-versa. So I developed left-handed batting skills as well.

“I remember 2011 World Cup, we were practicing in Bangalore. I casually asked to spin me some balls which went for sixes. Then I read an article saying this could be Sachin’s secret weapon,” he laughed.

Tendulkar explained the right-left-hand confusion and said, “When I eat Indian style, I eat with right-hand. When I use a spoon, I use my left-hand. I write with left-hand. So many times it has happened when we have gone out to a Japanese restaraunt, I get confused which hand to use the chopsticks with.”

Source: The Indian Express

risingbd/Dhaka/May 11, 2018/A K Azad