On the occasion of Guru Purnima, Sachin released a video on social media where he can seen holding a bat and expressing his gratitude to his elder brother Ajit, coach Ramakanth Archerekar and lastly his father.
“Whenever I pick up a cricket bat I think of three people who played an integral part in my life in making me who I am today,” Tendulkar said in the video uploaded on his Twitter handle.
Tendulkar first took the name of his elder brother Ajit, who was the first one to take him to his coach Ramakant Achrekar and thereby bring about the informal beginning to his cricketing career.
“One thing I know for sure that my brother was not there physically every time I walked out to bat but he was always there mentally. So whenever I walked out, I knew my brother is also walking out with me.”
After thanking his elder brother, Sachin then paid tribute to his late coach Achrekar under whom he learnt the nuances of batting and the very basics of strokeplay during his junior days, the traits which eventually turned him into arguably the best batsman of all times.
“What can I say about Achrekar sir, the number of hours he spent on my batting, taking down all those notes. Be it a match or a practice session, he would note down all those mistakes and areas where I could get better. I spent hours on end discussing cricket with him.”
Sachin rapped up his tributes by finally extending a word of thanks to his father, who imbibed the principles of hard work, integrity and honesty into his life.
“Third is my father, who always told me, don’t take shortcuts. Prepare yourself properly and above all don’t ever lower your values. However much I talk about these three gentlemen, it is never enough,” he said.