Apart from his astonishing statistics, one thing that always made people awestruck about Sachin Tendulkar was his long career that spanned over two years. The Master Blaster dominated the oppositions throughout his career and retired from the game as one of the best players to step on the cricket field.
Talking about the secret of such an illustrious career at the launch of IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon, to be held on February 26, he said: “You can’t expose weaknesses. Once I got hit in the rib-cage. The bowler kept staring at me and I kept staring at him. It had become difficult to breathe but I did not show. I knew it was broken, hit on the spot. But you never stop, you keep moving forward,”
The batting legend revealed that running played a huge role in his playing career.
“Running had a positive impact on my fitness. For us, it was about speed, the short bursts, and recovery to play the next ball. For running between the wickets, it was run, decelerate, touch the crease and accelerate. That’s what worked for me,” he said.
The former cricketer said that the Indian team is one of the fittest team in the world due to the introduction of different training methods.
“There is more awareness today, there are different training methods. It’s need of the hour. The Indian team is one of the best in the world. In the early 90s, it was not to be seen. The infrastructure has improved. Players have learnt how to dive. The guys are particular about what to eat and when to eat?,“ Tendulkar opined.
One of the most successful sportspersons of the country, Tendulkar revealed that spending maximum time on the field played an important role in his success.
“I used to spend as much time on the field as possible. I would train and play for 12 hours a day, it became a routine. I was happy, it was not torturing. Fielding was a bit of torture,” he said smiling.
“I liked to compete. You can’t give excuses.”
The batsman made his debut in 1989 and played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs before retiring in 2013. He scored 15,921 runs in Tests and 18,426 runs in ODIs.