“He Was Like God…”: When MS Dhoni Described Sachin Tendulkar As Perfect Role Model While Growing Up

Former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar is often referred to as ‘God’ of cricket. Although, it’s quite a huge label to give it to anyone but many fellow cricketers of Tendulkar have said the same about him. The records of Tendulkar certainly does make him one of the bests to ever play the game.

Tendulkar is the only cricketer in the history to score 100 international centuries. He has scored the highest runs and smashed the most centuries in both ODI and Test formats. Some of the records of Tendulkar are almost impossible to break. He played his last match in 2013 against West Indies and had a memorable farewell at the Wankhede Stadium.

Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989 but had to wait till 2011 to win his maiden World Cup. Under the captaincy of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, India lifted the cup by beating Sri Lanka in the final at Tendulkar’s home venue. Dhoni was himself a very big fan of Tendulkar since childhood.

When MS Dhoni Described Sachin Tendulkar As Perfect Role Model

Dhoni once revealed why Tendulkar was the perfect role-model for him while growing up. He had said that Tenudulkar was like a god for them, and he had an aura around it as well. The willingness of Tendulkar to become a better cricketer everytime he stepped on the field made him a special cricketer as per Dhoni.

Even in the ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ movie, it was shown that Dhoni asked his mother to buy him a Tendulkar’s poster. This can be a fictional scene, but Dhoni once said movie was very close to the reality. So, it can be a true inicident as well.

“When we were growing up, we used to watch Sachin (Tendulkar), he was like God to all of us. He had that aura around him,” Dhoni had said while interacting with the Indian diaspora during a reception.

“Every time he turned on the field, he wanted to improve as a cricketer. I felt he was an ideal person to look up to and that is what we did.”

MS Dhoni won Man of the Match in 2011 World Cup Final

Dhoni was excellent with his captaincy throughout the tournament, but he finally made a vital contribution with the bat in the final of the 2011 World Cup. While chasing the target of  275 runs, India were 114-3. Everyone expected former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh to come at the number five slot.

However, Dhoni surprised everyone and came ahead of Singh. He played a innings of his lifetime and scored 91* in just 79 balls. Dhoni also smashed the winning six for the Indian team. India won the match by six wickets and won the World Cup.