The legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar received the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the BCCI annual awards ceremony which was held in Mumbai on Saturday. On receiving the award, Tendulkar gave a heartwarming speech where he spoke on several aspects, including the moment when he lost his father during the 1999 Cricket World Cup and his injury struggles. Tendulkar, who has played 664 international matches for India, holds several records, including those of the highest runs in Tests (15,921) and ODIs (18,426).
We now take a look at the full text of Sachin Tendulkar’s speech
On the lesson he learnt from Kapil Dev
“In 1989, during my first tour to Pakistan, our bus used to leave at 9 am for practice. One day, I turned up late by a couple of minutes and then Kapil Paaji was sitting there and he called me ‘Tendleya, is it 9 am, or is it past 9 am?’ And since then, I have this habit of keeping my watch at least seven or eight minutes fast.
“But going back to Pakistan, you know, it taught me a lot. A 16-year-old was not supposed to hear all those things. My vocabulary improved. I never thought that those kinds of words were used in Test cricket. I got to learn a lot.”
On dedicating his century to his father
“It started in 1999. During the World Cup, I lost my father. I came back to India for a couple of days for his funeral and that suddenly changed me overnight. I went back to play the World Cup to join the team. Life changed after that.
I wanted my father to be around and to see a number of things that were to happen in my life. From that moment on, I started showing my bat to my father. So anything good that happened in my life, I would show that to my father first and celebrate with everyone.”
On having no bat sponsorship
“In the mid-90s, I played for two years without a bat contract, because they were alcohol and tobacco companies promoting heavily at that time, using bats as a medium to advertise. But all of us at home had taken this decision that I would not promote tobacco or alcohol. So that was one big decision in the mid-90s that we, as a family, took and for two years I played without a contract. When it comes to values, I feel that family was my backbone and my strength in my career.”
On his injury struggles
“I was actually like a Formula One car, you know. You only see a car on a track, but there is a big team working behind that. And for me to go on the field, there was a big team of doctors, physios, masseurs, trying to contribute in the best possible manner to get me on the field.
There were a number of challenges. In 1999, I nearly had a back surgery in Australia. But somehow, at the last moment, the surgeon said that we should not touch your back right now; we will wait and we will see. And from there on, tennis elbow, shoulder, bicep, a number of them happened, but the support staff was so positive and really helped me. Having a doctor at home helped to guide me, to give me direction, that it was only a bend and not the end.”
On saying Thank You to his bat
“Yesterday, I was hitting a few balls in the indoor nets. The sound was reverberating. I said thank you to my bat for giving me those incredible moments on the field. I consider myself very, very fortunate and lucky.”
On the surprise that MS Dhoni gave him
“I’m speechless when it comes to those moments; those moments are never planned. I think it’s a story written from above. Honestly, when I look back, I really find it difficult to believe that all these things have happened in my life. I consider myself extremely lucky, and that last moment when the whole team was planning to do something for me and celebrate the ninth wicket, we celebrated that, and then MS Dhoni said, ‘paaji aap thoda dur raho, hum kuch plan kar rahe hai,’ and then the team gave me the guard of honour.
They gave me that send-off and that is when you kind of realise that the end is near. ‘Ki iske baad I will never walk out on the field as a current Indian player.’ Very few people get to do this, very few people experience what all of you are experiencing.”
On his advice for younger generation
“I would say, without cricket, all of us wouldn’t be sitting in this room. For me, it has been the ultimate gift of my life. We have bat and ball, and if there is no solid grip over that, or you start losing grip over the bat and ball, you kind of slowly start losing grip over your career also
I should not be giving you advice and saying ‘stay focused’ or whatever, but there’ll be distractions. Don’t let them disrupt your career. Value everything that we have and look after your game. We all have managed; we did not have anything. It is important to value when we have everything and behave in the appropriate manner to take the game forward and the country’s name forward. Like I said, you all are current cricketers; there is plenty of cricket left in you. Just go out, give your best, and make the most of this opportunity because you only realise once you’ve stopped playing cricket, where you were a few years ago. So, all the very best to you.”
Source: Firstpost