Today marks the 52nd birthday of one of the greats of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar! Many consider him as one of the greatest cricketers, and it is not hard to see why. After a long and illustrious career, he walked away as the leading run-scorer in international cricket, and with an unbelievable 100 centuries- a feat that will most certainly stand the test of time.
Known for contrasting a blistering batting style with the graceful, Tendulkar’s 24 years of cricketing lore were indeed spectacular. The great Don Bradman once said he has never seen himself play like that, yet he felt Tendulkar was playing something akin to him. In 1996, Bradman told how much he admired Sachin’s technique, asking his wife to watch him play because he had never seen himself play but could tell that the way Sachin played the game was somehow like him. He credited Sachin’s compactness and the way he played his shots, saying everything seemed to fit into the picture.
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Two years later, Bradman had Sachin over at his house in Adelaide for a most pleasant talk on cricket, and much more. Tendulkar recalled those discussions with the Telegraph, especially about the ability of quality batters to read the ball just by noticing the bowler’s wrist. He mentions how they discussed how players who had gained experience in the game could pick the spin of the ball even before it was released by the bowler.
In his formative years, Tendulkar learnt the hard way on the maidans of Mumbai. These almost always had several matches going on at the same time, where players had to be alert to multiple overlapping games. “Your peripheral awareness increased,” Tendulkar mentions while recalling the tough maidans. “Once I hit the stadiums, where only one game was on, it became much easier to spot openings in the field.”
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He credits Ramakant Achrekar, the legendary coach. According to Tendulkar, he was then given the essential exposure by having a lot of different bowlers thrown at him on all sorts of pitches. “The maidans really helped me learn.” He said, “Achrekar Sir always pushed for me to play on different surfaces so I could learn how to adapt.” Clearly, the combination of hard work, talent, and maybe just a bit of guidance from Achrekar during crucial formative years must have set him on his way to greatness.
So, take a moment to wish him a very happy birthday: Sachin Tendulkar, a true icon of cricket!
