As far as Indian cricket is concerned, there is no name bigger than Sachin Tendulkar in history. Labelled as ‘the god of cricket’ by fans in the country, Tendulkar is someone that not just became the best in the world and helped the Indian cricket team achieve new heights but also a person who brought the nation together.
It comes as no surprise that Tendulkar is someone that a billion people fondly look up to for inspiration. While there is doubting the little master’s god-gifted talent, his rise has been a result of a lot of hard work and resilience from a very young age.
A key part of Tendulakr’s success was his childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar. Tendulkar joined Achrekar’s coaching academy at the age of 9 and since then has continued to grow. On his death anniversary on Monday (January 2), Tendulkar took to social media and wrote a heartfelt post remembering his coach. The Indian batting legend hailed his teaching as key to his success.
“He taught me technique, discipline and most importantly, to respect the game. I think of him every day. Today, on his death anniversary, I salute the Dronacharya of my life. Without him, I wouldn’t have been the same cricketer,” Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.
Tendulkar remains the only cricketer in history to achieve the unique feat of scoring 100 centuries. Over his 24-year-long career, he played a total of 200 Test matches and 463 ODIs. Tendulkar scored 49 ODI tons and reached the three-figure mark on an incredible 51 occasions in the longest format of the game. Tendulkar was a key part of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning team.
Talking about Achrekar, he had won the Dronacharya award in 1990 and Padma Shri in 2010. He died at the age of 86 in 2019 at his residence. Tendulkar attended the funeral and was visibly emotional.
