Sachin Page #7

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the brighter side of life.

"Give me some sunshine."

"Give me some rain."

"Give me another chance..."

want to grow up once again."

Sachin is a pretty simple guy.

He's never changed.

And he doesn't want

us to change either.

We're still like

we were 25 years ago.

Maybe that's why we're

still good friends.

I would always say

Sachin you're so weird.

There was a bottle of Polo,

Ralph Lauren.

I said to Sachin, "This smells funny."

He had mixed 25 after-shaves in it.

It might be an injury,

it might be a prank.

He loves to have a laugh

at the cost of his friends.

He's always like a kid, even now.

- Let's drive little rough.

- Come on.

- Rough.

- If you come in the way, bad luck.

Sometimes Sachin is

under immense pressure.

Or he has a good feeling

about a particular day.

He keeps playing the same song

over-and-over again.

Of Bappi Lahiri.

Sachin is very competitive.

It's hard to beat him...

...it may be at any sport.

Life is nothing without good friends.

You should have those special friends.

And I am really, really fortunate to

have the set of friends around me...

...who I know for sure, that they

will stand by me in difficult times.

Post the revelations in 2000...

...lndian Cricket desperately

needed someone to pin their faith on.

There was a clean up.

There was action taken.

...and what you saw,

turn of the century.

Rahul Dravid,

VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath...

...Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.

These were people you

could pin your faith on.

And Sachin Tendulkar was

the flag bearer of the faith.

We needed something extraordinary...

...to get cricket back on track.

The challenge that we faced...

...if we lost a match, people

would say we didn't try hard enough.

If we played well and won,

they would still say...

...that the other team

isn't trying hard enough.

All the more reason why we needed

an India vs. Australia.

- They have been in tremendous form.

- They have won 14-15

test matches in a row...

...which is a tremendous achievement.

It was our final frontier

if you like, as well.

To go to India and finally break

the drought and win over there.

Was what we'd been gearing

ourselves for, for so long.

That's it... Australia have

won 16 test matches in a row.

Australia steam-rolled

India in the First Test.

They looked absolutely unassailable.

They power through the Second Test.

He's bowled him.

He's cleaned him up here.

India follows on and it looks like

Indian cricket's on it's last legs.

Rahul Dravid gets

together with VVS Laxman...

...and turns the tide in absolutely

unforgettable and irrefutable fashion.

And all this in a way which

can never be forgotten or neglected.

The way they scored those runs...

...and played those important spells,

their focus was incredible.

But we still had to bowl them out.

While I was attacking...

...we needed someone to give another

break through from the other end.

Whenever the wicket turned

we called in Tendulkar to bowl.

When Australians came to bat

we would want him to bowl to them.

He's got everything.

If he bowl's off-spin,

he'll be probably better than me.

I really thought he had

a lot of talent as a leg spinner.

He'd bamboozle people.

He had a good wrong-un,

He had a good leg break...

...he spun the ball.

I think that one day took India way

past the events of the previous year...

...and brought the great spirit back.

That series changed

the Indian team completely.

India have won the test match.

India have won the series.

Everyone believed that we can

defeat the best teams in the world.

Such a performance against

Australia was extremely necessary...

...to make everyone think differently.

To win their hearts back.

So that we can

celebrate cricket again.

A throw and a miss...

...they are gonna get back for two.

India home... Lords goes wild!

India have won the Natwest Series

Finals by two wickets, here at Lords.

In one of the most

incredible one-day matches...

...the country has ever seen.

We had a very good

team going to South Africa.

We were very sure

we're going to do well.

And hopefully win the tournament.

And fulfil my dream.

We said what is it

which can motivate us?

And remind us...

...when we walk out in

the middle to play for India...

...of the responsibility we carry.

So that's why we started

signing this before every game.

We wrote,

"l can, We can!"

Because it was essential

to gel the team together...

...and for all of us to

give 100 percent on the field.

The tri-color is always the

the motivating factor.

My preparation would stan

15 to 20 hours before a game.

I would fold my clothes

a particular way...

...putting them in my kitbag

in a specific order.

I would even iron them myself.

I hated anybody wishing me

good luck before I went out to bat.

Often the coach would

come up and say...

"Good luck, do well."

But that was the last

thing I wanted to hear.

I would just walk off.

He's superstitious, like if he's scored

a century after drinking green tea...

...then he'll drink green

tea throughout the series.

Even if Sir Don Bradman comes

in and offers him a coffee...

...he will not drink it!

And he'll get it.

A fourth 100 in World Cup

cricket for Sachin Tendulkar.

During that entire World Cup...

...he never batted

a single day at the nets.

I asked, "Are you sure

you're okay with everything?"

He said,

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry!"

He got 600 runs in the tournament!

My mind was always

at the bowler's end.

I would play a few deliveries

in a particular way...

...to make sure the bowler bowls the next

delivery exactly where I want him to bowl.

So again the master batsman

reading the bowler's mind.

All set.

We had to come out with some cunning

plans to try and keep Tendulkar quiet.

If Tendulkar's quiet...

...the nation's quiet.

I don't think there's any point

sledging Tendulkar.

Here's a man who's already got a

billion people in his ears already.

What exactly do you say to Sachin?

Whenever we went

out to bat together...

...it felt like I'm stepping

out with the king of the jungle.

Everyone's attention

would be on Tendulkar.

That would make it pretty

easy for me to score runs with him.

He would normally stan

at the non-strikefls end.

But that day,

as he was going out to bat, he felt...

...Wasim Akram might have too many

tricks for a young player like Sehwag.

So he said,

"You stay here, I'll take the strike".

If we get Sachin Tendulkar,

we would have won the game.

That was the plan.

But, I suppose Sachin

had a different plan!

After that shot off Wasim.

He felt this was his game.

Shoaib Akhtar, the Rawalpindi

express into the attack...

...the fastest bowler in the world up

against the best batsman in the world.

He goes after that one

and it's a six.

That was the first time

I saw Shoaib Akhtar panicked.

- And the way Sachin played,

it's been outstanding.

- I've never seen better

innings for a long-long time.

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