Sachin Tendulkar reveals his two role models while growing up

Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar, on Thursday, revealed his two cricketing heroes while growing up. The Master Blaster revealed that even though he looked up to many players during his childhood, his two absolute favourites were– former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and West Indies great Viv Richards.

Sachin also explained how he gained motivation from both Gavaskar and Richards while hoping to play for India one day. The ‘Little Master’ wanted to play for the country ever since he started playing the sport.

“I would say that when I was playing cricket or when I was of your age (young), I wanted to become a cricketer and going ahead wanted to play for my country,” Tendulkar said while speaking during the virtual ‘Gift of Life’ ceremony after 1,000 children underwent free heart surgeries performed by the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital since the Covid-19 pandemic began in the country.

“I had two heroes – one is our own Sunil Gavaskar, who played for India for several years and performed well, he was my batting hero. Along with him, it was Viv Richards of the West Indies. These were my batting heroes when I played cricket.”

It is my dream that I become like my father: Sachin Tendulkar

Outside cricket, Sachin’s biggest inspiration in life was his father Ramesh. Sachin reminisced the time which he spent with his father and recalled how calm and composed his ‘hero’ in life was.

Outside of cricket, Tendulkar said his biggest inspiration was father Ramesh Tendulkar. “But generally, in life, then I would say that my hero was my father (Ramesh Tendulkar). So much time I spent with him and he was mild, calm and composed, he was a man with good nature. So, it is my dream that I become like him. I will say that my father was my hero in my life,” Tendulkar said.

While attending the event, Tendulkaralso lauded the hospital for doing such noble work for the children. “I would say by doing this noble work, you are not just giving our children the opportunity to lead a healthy life, you are also giving them an opportunity to dream big and chase their dreams. You are also giving them a chance to create a positive impact, not just on their lives, but also on the people around them,” said Tendulkar.