Monday morning in a derelict mill in the trendiest part of downtown Mumbai and Sachin Tendulkar is shooting a TV commercial. He’s been here since 7am, getting into character: they’ve styled his hair, put loads of rings on his fingers and got him up in some kind of Starsky and Hutch-style outfit for the occasion, a shoot for mobile-phone company Airtel. Later, the French director will be having him hoisted up on pulleys for an action sequence. Tendulkar bears it all with good grace. This – apart from being the greatest, most exciting batsman of his generation – is what he does. In India he’s the face of adidas, Visa, Pepsi, TVS motorbikes, Fiat, Philips, ESPN; from billboards and TV screens, the image of cricket’s greatest-ever icon beams out.
Our official arrives at 9.30 and is ushered to Tendulkar’s trailer – a huge, yellow affair, Bollywood-impressive from the outside, plain on the inside – to wait for Sachin, with his agent, Vinod Naidu. As we wait, Naidu is on the phone, taking one call after another, apparently striking deals left, right and centre. Eventually, the man himself appears, the director having given him a break from shooting, and he sits down to talk to us. We make small talk about his golf – he’s always been a big hitter but has struggled with his radar: he assures us he’s much improved – and his favourite ground in England: Cheltenham, apparently. He has a family connection there: it is where his wife’s, English, grandmother lives.
Polite, humble, quietly spoken, Tendulkar talks in a slow, considered.
manner, leaving long pauses before answering interviewing’s questions, smiling and laughing readily. The man is laidback and friendly, almost impossibly polite and smiley, almost enough to make you forget that he is India’s biggest sports star and the centre of a multi-million rupee industry.
When, eventually, it’s time for lunch, we realise exactly who we’re with: Tendulkar sends out for lunch to his own restaurant, 10 minutes away in downtown Mumbai. He’s exceedingly enthusiastic about the restaurant and orders what seems like a tremendous amount of food, sampling his own menu to the max.
It’s been a difficult year for the Little Master. During the Indian season, his tennis elbow flared up again, forcing him to miss key games. There was talk that he would not make the Pakistan series; that his career might even be over. But within a fortnight of our meeting, he would be back on the field for India and completing his 10,000th run in Test cricket – the fifth man to do so – and putting all the doubts behind him. Over a morning, in between bouts of his other day job of being a celebrity, the greatest batsman of the modern era reflected on his career to date, his future – and much more besides.
Did you ever think that your recent injury might end your career?
No, at no stage did I think of retiring. I know the injury was extremely bad, but it’s getting better – keeping my fingers crossed. It was a terrible injury to have, but I have consulted a lot of doctors and the general feedback was that you just have to give yourself time and it will get better. I just had to be patient and do what my physio and doctor said.
What goals do you have left in the game?
There are no goals as such. I just want to go out and score as many runs as possible. Winning the World Cup would be the ultimate for sure…
How would you say your game has changed over the 15 years you’ve been playing for India?
There have definitely been changes. When you start, you have problems selecting your shots. But as time goes by, you know when is the right time to play particular shots – and you time them better, too.
It’s all about taking in what’s happening around you as quickly as possible – and that comes with experience, I think. You can’t expect a 16 year old to think like somebody who is 34 or 35. Early in your career you don’t think whether the way you’re playing is a risky route or a safer route, you just want to get to the destination come what may. But, as time goes by, you cut down on the risks you take and try to make your game as compact as
possible. While doing that, you discover many other avenues to get to the same destination. That’s what I think has happened to me over the past 15 years: I have learned to minimise the risk factor yet try to get to the same destination.
Some batters cut out riskier shots – the hook, say – altogether…
I do still hook, but the timing has to be right. Sometimes you need to take calculated risks and when it comes off, no-one mentions the risks you took at the start of your innings. But if you take risks and fail, you immediately have an expert asking, “Why did he do that?” You have to see the success rate and if you have been successful doing or playing in that manner I guess that’s the way to go about it.
Who has helped you change your game?
I don’t think anyone has helped me change my game in particular. But I have discussed my
batting and cricket in general with plenty of players and with my brother – so changes come in gradually. Nobody has made any special effort to change my game. It is all about adapting: You have to be flexible; all I have tried to do is to keep myself as flexible as possible and try to play according
to the situation. You can’t just go bang bang everyday… there are times where you just have to stay at the wicket and don’t have to think about scoring quickly. Every afternoon is going to be different – so you need to work out what type of an afternoon it is and play accordingly.
Are there areas of your batting that you’re still working on? Can you still improve?
You can improve or develop your game up to a certain extent and when you reach that spot I think it is important to stay there as long as possible. Just to stay there takes a lot of hard work. That’s what I’m focusing on. There are days when you get everything right and everything seems to be very easy and there are days when you won’t get anything right: it’s down to your body, it’s not a machine that will deliver every morning, 100 per cent. Sometimes you think differently, sometimes your body is aching, sometimes you are not feeling up to it. Eventually what really matters is your mental strength and hunger to succeed.
Do you do much work on your bowling?
Not really. I enjoy bowling and I think it isdifferent to what any regular bowler would do. I am not afraid of experimenting; my job is to bowl for two or three overs and try out things and catch the batsman by surprise. If I can do that and get a breakthrough I have done my job. I don’t intend to bowl 20 overs a day:I don’t think my body is geared up for that – my job is to bowl six or seven overs a day.
Do you keep a close check on your career stats?
Not really, but yeah, I know roughly where I stand. It’s unavoidable. Every time you see the television or you go through the magazines you get to see those things. It always stays in there, but it’s not at all in the front of my mind. That is taken up by the team’s interest and whatever the team’s aims are, you are going out to achieve those; and while achieving those targets you get to this level, this personal level – and if that happens I am pretty much happy.
How many bats do you have on the go at once?
In my kit bag I may have six bats when I am travelling, but normally you end up playing with either one or two. Obviously you have your favourite ones depending on what kind of surfaces you play on. When you play on tracks where you don’t have much bounce,if you’re a player who likes to play on the rise, you’re bound to crack the bottom of your bat. I end up cracking virtually 100 out of 100 bat
bottoms and I have to have a couple of bats ready at all times. If you’re somebody who likes to play on the rise, then you have to be prepared.
Has John Wright made India more like Australia? Has he brought in a more
professional approach to the team?
I don’t think so. He has tried to change our playing style but this has been by bringing in more discipline and making the whole team far better organised. It’s good to be talented, but it is equally important to manage that talent correctly and know how to focus that energy in the right direction – and that’s what he has tried to do for the team, and he has managed to do this fantastically.
You can’t make an ordinary player a brilliant player just by changing the coach. It has to come from within and the player needs to have immense ability in the first place.
One thing that seems to have changed over the years has been India’s approach to
fielding and out-cricket. Is that fair?
Cricket not only in India but all over the world has changed, I would say, while I’ve been playing. If you look at one-day cricket in the ’80s, a target of 200–235 was very good and today you are talking about 285 and even then you’re not 100 per cent sure that it’s a winning total: if the opposition get off to a flyer or don’t lose early wickets, you know the game is still wide open. It’s a huge difference between 235 and 285. Batsmen are inventing different shots and they’re prepared to take chances.
But the whole game has changed: in the ’80s there were no computers and now every team has one and we all are planning: you can make out precisely when and where the runs have been made in boundaries and when in singles and when the bowlers have bowled dot balls. Getting all this detail means there can be more study of playing, so the competitiveness and the style of play is going to be different. It has changed cricket in a big way, no doubt about it.
One of the extensions of that in England is Twenty20: is that something that excites you?
It’s an interesting concept. I’m sure it will teach not only the batter but the bowler to play under pressure when the game is tight. If sides can score 200 runs in 20 overs then both batters and bowlers will start thinking differently: if you can chase 200 runs in 20 overs, then why can’t you chase 285 runs in 50 overs? I feel it is tremendous entertainment for people: you don’t end up sitting at the ground for eight to nine hours: it’s over in literally three or four hours and you have seen more shots being played. For the players, it’s about innovation and whoever is prepared to be innovative is going to do well. There’s not much time to get into it and then play your shots, so basically you have to be right on the ball right from ball one. Twenty20 hasn’t picked up here in India yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, very shortly, it came here.
Would you consider playing baseball? Have you ever been asked?
[laughs] I was once asked to come and play with the Toronto Blue Jays – just an exhibition game, nothing serious. But we were playing the next day so I couldn’t go there. I have tried it a couple of times in the US on a baseball pitching machine. It is interesting, but I would not take it up seriously for various reasons. For me it would only be for fun.
To play any game at a competitive level is going to be tough, and you know to get to that level is not easy – it will take a long time and plenty of hours in the middle. Nobody becomes successful overnight.
Would you like to come and play county cricket in England again?
Not at this stage. My body needs time to recover and just to switch off my mind and spend time with my family – so it would be difficult to find the time to play county cricket. I would love to, but don’t think
my body will co-operate at this stage – or my mind.
We play so much cricket and you need to take whatever time you can get to switch off your mind and to recharge your batteries. If I spend my time away from playing for India playing cricket somewhere else, then I don’t think I will be in a position to play cricket for India with the full intensity you need. The prime focus for me is playing for India and to be 100 per cent there. Whatever I do in the middle will need focusing 100 per cent and I want to focus all my energy for playing for India.
What will you do when you retire?
[laughs] As I said earlier, I have not thought about retirement. I believe there is cricket left in me and once I have exhausted that then I’ll start thinking about what else I can do.
Given the extreme attention you attract from the Indian public, have you considered living abroad when you retire?
Just holidaying abroad is good; just to see different places and get to do the normal things that I miss here in India, like playing with my kids in the park and all those things. It’s extremely important for me and the family that I do the normal things with them; I don’t want to miss out on that. So
it’s important to go to places where I can be a normal person and get to do those things. But, for sure I will stay living in India when I do retire. For sure.
Sachin on…
MUSIC:
“I’ve got plenty of music. Mainly it is Dire Straits, U2, Eagles, Pink Floyd… and then a lot of Indian music like Lata Mangeshkar – she is a great great singer – Kishore Kumar, Mohd Rafi etc… And then the Gypsy Kings as well, so it’s a mixture of everything.
Very few singers from the new generation have actually caught my attention – I am more into the Knopflers and Roger Waters and all those.”
“HIS CHARITY WORK: My mother-in law has been involved with the same charity for over 30 years; its work is about going to slums and teaching the kids how one can make life better through education. It’s just not telling them or giving them big lectures, but spending time teaching them how to do things and keeping track of how they work. I have been supporting
them now for seven or eight years. I’ve kept it pretty low-key and that’s how I want it to be. The kids are happy; they are benefiting: a lot things are being done for them, like the other day when I participated in the Mumbai Marathon – I was asked by the organisers not to run due to security reasons – but a couple of the sponsors have chipped in big money and helped the charity in a big way. I am glad people are willing to show their support and contribute.
All I can say is it has made a good start and it shouldn’t stop here.”
TURNING DOWN ENDORSEMENTS:
“I have. I have always stayed away from promoting alcohol and tobacco. I’ve been approached but have stayed away.”
WEARING A DISGUISE:
“I did try that – false beards and so on – just for fun. My friends and my wife were challenging me that I couldn’t go out in public. I said ‘Yeah, I can’ and it was out of fun that I tried a disguise. But I am comfortable without them.”
WANTING TO BE A RACING DRIVER
“I would have liked that. I liked racing and you obviously can’t race on the street – you have to stick to go-karting on the track where it’s extremely safe to zoom around. I have enjoyed driving in England: the roads are extremely good there”
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