Sachin Page #2

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What a player!

What a wonderful player!

It was a demanding routine.

Waking at 6am.

Off to school.

Reaching the ground at 3pm.

And then practice,

practice until sun-down.

Sir would take him

from one ground to another.

In fact on the same

day Sachin would...

...end up playing

in two different games.

There were times when Sachin

played for 10 consecutive days.

Days spent in Shivaji

park were very special.

Sir taught me..

...to play honestly

and with dedication.

Do not cheat.

No player is bigger than a team.

This piece of advice

became a part of my kitbag.

It helped me face the world.

- Whoever gets him out,

will get this coin.

There would be at least

80 fielders around the park...

...so it was important to

keep the ball on the ground.

I won many coins.

These are like gold medals for me.

Whenever I batted well...

...sir would give me money

to buy Vada-Pav

And I would know,

that sir was happy with me.

In fact, my breakfast was that...

...after many years these guys were

wanting to serve me Muesli et cetera...

I said no-no... keep all that aside.

I need 'vada-pav'

- Ticket.

- Hey wise-guy, who's going

to buy a ticket for your bag?

Sunil Gavaskar or Kapil Dev?

- SACHIN!

I never had time for myself...

...so my parents

and brother decided...

...that I would go and stay

with my uncle and aunt.

...who lived just 2 minutes

from the ground.

After coming back from practice,

he would first eat...

...and then I would bowl to him.

I would get tired,

but he would never get tired.

And he would say,

"Throw the ball and get me out."

But how would one get him out?

That's howl learnt

my back foot defence.

It would remind

me of Formula One pit-stop"

...as soon as he came home...

...Sachin would fall

asleep in mother's arms...

...father would massage his

feet while his aunt would feed him.

This is where my career

took direction and shape.

It changed me as a person...

completely.

From a notorious kid to

a serious... focussed cricketer.

I scored the highest

partnership with Vinod Kambli...

...which was also a world-record

at that time.

- He's still batting, sir.

- The bowlers are crying...

- They don't want to bowl to them

In 5 matches of inter-school Cricket,

he'd made 1028 runs.

He'd only been out once.

So already Tendulkar

was a well known name.

All the top Mumbai cricketers...

...were sort of quietly

going across to see him bat.

Even at the age of 14-15 years...

...one could see that

here's a young player...

...who will make a name for India,

as well as for himself in the future.

Sachin, you must

be getting tired now...

...of people asking you questions,

and giving interviews a lot.

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