The legendary Indian Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s dream of playing international Cricket for India, which upon being realized, only halted after flooding the Cricketing fraternity with innumerable memories over the span of 24 years.
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The seemingly unimaginable journey, comprising a nearly impossible-to-breach tally of 100 international centuries, actually began when the ‘Master Blaster’ was mere 10 years of age.
A support system like no other, it was upon the insistence of his elder brother Ajit Tendulkar, that Sachin was enrolled under the able guidance of the veteran coach Ramakant Achrekar. Achrekar might have played just one First-Class match, but his coaching methods had yielded some of the finest cricketers in Bombay back then.
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By the age of 12, the child prodigy that he was, Sachin began to play for as many as 13 different teams. As the story goes, on Sundays, he played almost half-a-dozen matches from dawn to dusk at the city’s Shivaji Park, and was high-in-demand in every side due to his stellar batting skills and ability.
A wicket lost while playing on a particular pitch in the park, would see him scampering across another nearby pitch to play a different match for another team.
Sachin Tendulkar’s coach Ramakant Achrekar would place a bet with bowlers to get him out
As fun it might sound, Tendulkar’s days while playing the sport involved serious dedication and perspiration, as picking up the bat was never only about entertainment for him.
Under Achrekar’s coaching, he practised nearly 12 hours a day, with the sole purpose to make him perfect at what he does best. In fact, he believed in allowing his students to play as much as it is possible for a human being.
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In fact while Sachin batter, he began the custom of awarding his students a coin each if they managed to get Sachin Out ‘Bowled’, and placed a coin above one of the stump while he batted.
“Anyone who gets him out will take this coin. If no one gets him out, Sachin is going to take it,” Achrakar would remark.
Sachin had once exclaimed early in his international career, that he still had those coins left with him. “I lost a couple of times, but I still have 13 coins that I won. I didn’t spend the money,” remarked Sachin.
