Childhood

Sachin Tendulkar's childhood story

       

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai, India. He went to Shradashram Vidyamandir, a high school in Mumbai, where he began his cricketing career under his coach Ramakant Achrekar. He attended the MRF Pace Foundation during his schooldays to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who saw him training, was not much impressed and suggested that Tendulkar should focus on his batting instead. As a young boy, Tendulkar would practice for hours at the net, and was driven hard by his coach Achrekarthat the young boy would soon become one of the greats in cricket. In the 1988 season, he scored a century in every inning that he played. In one of the inter school matches that year, he had an unbroken 664-run partnership with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli.

Here is a man who is responsible for the success of the master blaster, who deserves to be called Dronacharya, as he spotted the talent in Sachin Tendulkar, in his childhood, who went on to become the highest run-scorer in the history of the game. Ramakanth Achrekar, the man who coached Sachin Tendulkar, knew he would be highly successful at the international level. Achrekar, who has been coaching young cricketers at Shivaji Park in Dadar, played cricket in 1943 for New Hind Sports Club, Young Maharashtra XI and others. 

He played his only first class match for all India State Bank against Hyderabad in 1963-64. But the talented cricketer, has coached many successful cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Vinod Kambli, Sanjay Bangar, Balwinder Sandhu, Chandrakant Pandit and Pravin Amre, while the most famnous being the Master Blaster. Its Sep 5, Teachers' Day and Sachin Tendulkar would surely remember his coach, guru who taught him the art of batting everyday as that has been the reason for him being successful at international level. Ramakant Achrekar is a proud coach as he has produced a great cricketer like Sachin, is very pleased to have spot the talent during Tendulkar's childhood. Tendulkar has also narrated an incident during his childhood that truly changed his life, as he got a late cut from the coach during the reunion of his school where the old students united to felicitate the coach. 

When his coach told him to play for ‘B' team of his School, instead of playing, Sachin preferred to sit in the gallery and cheer his schoolmates. After the match, Achrekar asked him how many runs he had scored knowing that he did not play the game. A surprised Tendulkar told had replied saying that he was clapping and cheering his schoolmates and did not play. Soon after he was rewarded with a slap, as his lunch box fell on the ground and Sachin realised the mistake he had committed.

Achrekar told him firmly ‘don't just clap for others, play for yourself and concentrate on your batting', Tendulkar said. Sachin also recollected that a late cut from his coach changed his life, as he took every match seriously ever since that incident. "That incident changed my life and whatever I am today is because of his coaching and match practices that encouraged me," Tendulkar said, attributing his success to coach Achrekar. Infact it was Achrekar's never say die attitude that prompted Sachin Tendulkar to become World's best batsman as he would challenge the master blaster to concentrate well and come up with some unique things to ensure that he practices. When Sachin told coach that he was exhausted and couldn't continue after long hours of net practice, Achrekar would place a coin on the stumps and challenge Sachin to bat well as a dismissal ensures that he would lose the coin.

If a bowler dismisses him, he would get the one rupee coin and if Sachin remains unbeaten, he takes it was the deal, and the legendary cricketer still boasts of collecting 13 coins after batting through those gruelling sessions without getting dismissed. The master recollected that it was this exercise that has helped him throughout his career, as Achrekar Sir's coaching has led to his success during a reunion at his school Sharadashram Vidya Mandir that happened a couple of months ago. Irrespective of a particular day, Sachin Tendulkar has a lot of respect for his coach Ramakanth Achrekar and since it is Teachers' Day, it is worth recollecting these incidents and how Achrekar produced a legendary cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar, who has made him and the nation proud.