Sachin: A Billion Dreams Page #6

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- He's smiling.

- Sachin has a name.

- Decided the name?

- Pet name.

- Mini Me.

- Mini Me.

Our son Arjun was born only 4 months

after Sachin's father passed away.

His family always felt that...

...this was Sachin's

father coming back.

Arjun is also very

much like Sachin's father.

Very sensitive boy...

very caring...

...and loves his family a lot.

And he's very close to Sachin.

- Which muscle is this?

- Which?

- Glute.

- You know, even here you

can stretch well for the glute.

Sachin was very particular...

...Arjun should practice well.

- Does that make a difference?

- Yeah...

- Good to go... come on.

- That's your target.

- Six balls.

- See... this is the last, it's better.

- Slightly better, yeah.

- It's like this, right.

- Pull this back.

- Nice ball.

- See, without looking here, I said.

Our coach, Mr. Achrekar,

was very loving, very caring...

...and at the same

time he was very strict.

He must be a student of this game...

...he must know what I told him...

...but afterwards he

has to use his mind.

- Adjust your mind-set,

nothing else.

- If batting was that easy...

...then everyone would

be world champions.

- Suppose now the ball pitches

here somewhere...

...then you'll have to

turn your front foot...

...that time your head

will be above that...

...and bat will be as

straight as possible.

- Suppose the ball pitches

here somewhere...

...then don't try and play it here.

- Hold your position.

- Yes, much better.

I went to Sachin's house one day...

...and Arjun had scored

100 in a local match.

His first reaction to me was...

"Don't praise him."

- Because that goes to their head.

That is the Tendulkar ethos.

- 4 balls, how many runs to win?

- Seven.

- I've got a fine leg up,

and third man up.

- Long-on, deep midwicket,

deep square leg.

- The rest of the guys in

the ring saving single.

- This one you win!

If Arjun doesn't

succeed as a cricketer...

...he's gonna have to deal with it.

We can't change the

fact of who his father is.

I've gone through so many years of

stress with Sachin that I've decided...

...l really can't go through

this all over again.

- Papa, leave him. Leave him.

- Okay, you come...

you come on this side.

1999, I was asked again to be captain.

I said, "Please don't

recommend my name".

The way I was dropped

from the captaincy...

...l didn't want to

experience that again.

And the next day...

- Sachin Tendulkar was back this

week as India's Cricket Captain...

...nearly two years after he was

replaced by Mohammad Azharuddin.

I could not believe... because

I had clearly declined that.

- Has Sachin come under considerable

pressure to accept captaincy?

- No I don't think... I think he's

been used to, you know, being captain.

- He was the captain

of the Indian team earlier.

- He has been captaining the

Mumbai Cricket Team for quite long.

- So I don't think that

he has come under pressure.

- I don't know from where

do you get this feeling?

He had a choice and we discussed it...

...he was not sure how will it be perceived

that you're giving up captaincy.

Is it that you're thinking

about your own performance...

...and not caring about the country?

- Sachin, to the outside world...

- ...the feeling is still that

you're a reluctant captain.

- That you don't want

to be somehow captain...

- ...and you've been almost

forced to become captain.

- I had spoken to the selectors earlier.

- And... I just felt I was

not mentally prepared.

- What I expect from the players is hundred

percent involvement on the ground.

- Some players may not

perform up to their expectations...

...but that's fine. As long as

they have put in a lot of effort.

- I'll be very happy with that.

- Again Sachin, there have

been rumours that you weren't...

- ...keen to lead the side

while Azharuddin is still playing.

- Any truth in that?

- I think it's better we

just leave them as rumours.

- And you know... stick to the reality.

After being appointed

captain the second time...

...we left for Australia.

It wasn't a great tour at all.

- I do not want to offer any excuses

for our poor performance in Australia.

- But I, as captain, take the

moral responsibility for our failure.

- I feel sorry for not living up

to the expectations of my countrymen.

- And I've decided after a lot of thought,

to step down from the captaincy...

...after the forthcoming two

test matches against South Africa.

Whatever was not in his hand,

we had to just go ahead and accept it.

Something didn't feel quite right.

During the entire

revelation of match-fixing...

At the end of it all,

when it actually came out...

...the man most disillusioned

was Sachin Tendulkar.

The Indian Police claim to

have evidence that Hansie Cronje...

...had agreed to fix the

result of international games.

The cricketing world's elite got around

the table to day to address a game in crisis.

- Scotland Yard is not

releasing any details...

Investigation is taking

an international dimension.

- What scares me is just how

far up the line this corruption goes?

What is match-fixing?

You will pre-determine

the result of a match...

...by buying out the services of X number

of players who will under-perform.

Not just results, but individual

events in the game as well.

Runs scored

off a particular ball.

Or runs conceded during

a particular spell.

There's just no

end to the possibilities...

...to make money once

you stan thinking about it.

Every test playing country in the world is

currently being investigated for corruption.

- Whatever is the truth,

should come out.

- It is very important that

we must clean up our own house first.

- There's also sufficient evidence

to establish an Inquiry of this type...

...that there was match-fixing.

- Who are they?

- All five of them.

Senior players were

banned by the BCCI...

...while they continued

to protest their innocence.

This was the darkest

phase of Indian Cricket.

I couldn't believe that

such things were happening.

It was shocking.

People keep talking about,

"Why hasn't he spoken?"

Because I don't know enough.

If I know with evidence,

then it makes sense.

When you're playing

for your nation...

...then it's nothing

less than 100 percent.

Nothing less than 100%.

And I believe that such

mistakes should be non-pardonable.

- We'll avoid it now.

- ...stop watching or listening

to matches, altogether.

- Now, I am really confused...

...which one was real

and which one was fixed.

- Earlier we used to worship cricket...

...now we really doubt it.

For me, playing cricket

was like going to a temple.

I always wanted to win...

...Never wanted to lose at any cost.

I would call my friends and

discuss all my problems with them.

We knew deep down how hurt

he was with the whole episode.

So we never spoke about it,

knowing how disturbed he already is.

Everyone would be

supportive all the time.

They would always make me see

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