NEW DELHI – It was the summer of 1984 when a decision by Professor RameshTendulkar — to let his youngest child Sachin switch school changed theboy’s life. The anecdote finds a mention in a new book, Winning likeSachin: Think & Succeed like Tendulkar’, authored by Devendra Prabhudesai.
Sachin was just 11 when his elder brother Ajit took him to coach RamakantAchrekar, who was of the view that young boy had it in him to go a long wayin the sport and it was therefore prudent that he be given access tocompetitive cricket.
The issue was that Bandra IES, the English-medium school in Mumbai whereSachin studied, did not have a cricket team. Achrekar recommended thatSachin be shifted to Shardashram Vidyamandir, whose English-andMarathi-medium cricket teams were coached by him, the book says.
Sachin’s residence at Sahitya Sahawas in Bandra was a fair distance awayfrom Shardashram in Dadar. There was no bus that plied between the twolocations directly, which meant that Sachin would have to change buses onthe way, that too early in the morning, as the school opened at 7 am.
Boys of his age were generally inducted into inter-school cricket team whenthey were studying in Class 7 or 8. Sachin, on the other hand, was to beginClass 6, it says, adding the commute to and from Shardashram would eat intohis leisure and study time.
“Professor Tendulkar could have taken the easy way out and ‘played safe’.He could very well have told his son to play cricket during the holidaysand concentrate on studies for the rest of the year. He could have put hisfoot down on the idea of changing schools. But he did not. He and the restof the family left the final decision to Sachin himself,” says the book.
“They assured him that they would back him, regardless of the decision hemade. Little did they know that that was the moment when the boy’s lifechanged and when the history of Indian cricket took an unexpected turn. Theyoungest member of their family, whom they all doted on, informed them thathe was ready for the change, and the challenge,” it adds.
Sachin had found his calling and had decided to let his love for cricket,which had grown into a passion under the tutelage of Achrekar, overrideevery other aspects of his life.
Published by Rupa Publications, the book offers insights into the winningattributes and lessons from the cricketing icon’s life.