Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary Indian batsman idolized former Indian opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar and West Indian big-hitter Sir Vivian Richards in his early days. He also looked up to several cricketers but the two were his idols.
Sachin Tendulkar has many records to his name and is the leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs and is the only batsman to have scored a century of international hundreds. He was the first batsman to score a double century in ODI cricket. He has 15921 Test runs in 200 matches and 18426 ODI runs in 463 matches.
Sir Viv Richards (Image Credit: Google)
Sachin Tendulkar Had Two Batting Heroes In His Youth
Sir Viv Richards was an aggressive batsman who was a part of World Cup-winning West Indies squad in 1975 and 1979. He scored a century in the final of 1979 World Cup. He was also a captain in 50 Tests between 1984 and 1991 and under him, West Indies did not lose a Test series. He scored more than 6000 runs in both Tests and ODIs averaging above 45 and had a strike rate of over 85 in both the formats.
“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 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.”
Sunil Gavaskar. Image Credits: Twitter
Sunil Gavaskar, who does commentary role these days, was the first batsman to cross 10,000 Test runs. He averages 51.12 in Tests scoring 10122 runs in 125 Tests and 214 innings. He also had 34 Test centuries to his name which was a record that stood for several years until it was broken by Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar: Father Ramesh Tendulkar Was Hero In Life
Sachin Tendulkar’s father Ramesh Tendulkar was a well known Marathi novelist. He died in 1999 when Sachin Tendulkar was playing 1999 World Cup in England.
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.
Sachin Tendulkar with Father (Source: Sachin Tendulkar’s Instagram)
Tendulkar also lauded the work done by the hospital and said children are our treasure. “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,” he added.
“You are also giving them a chance to create a positive impact, not just on their lives, but also on the people around them.”
The 47-year-old Sachin Tendulkar debuted in international cricket way back in 1989 and retired from international cricket in 2013 after playing his record 200th Test. He also played 463 ODIs and a solitary T20I. He played for 24 years and was a part of India’s squad in 2011 World Cup win.
