His bat is his best friend, as told by a 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar

Photo courtesy: NDTV.com

Did you know that Sachin Tendulkar’s favourite Indian actress was Madhuri Dixit? Did you know he loved chicken?

Over the period of 24 years, Sachin Tendulkar has been a part of many stories that have now become a part of the cricket folk-lore. Right from making his debut back in 1989, till today in 2013, there have been many stories about the great man. However, there have been quite a few that have gone untold too.

Here’s one that you didn’t know.

In 1990, Sachin Tendulkar was given a questionnaire to be filled in. The 17-year-old filled in the answers with blue ink and the picture above contains those answers.

This questionnaire was filled in by the young Indian batsman as part of an interview to The New Indian Express sports reporter N. Jagannath Das in 1990. Now, Mr. Das is the owner of this prized possession.

“Sachin was here for the Moinudullah Gold Cup in September 1990 when I went to meet him and Sanjay Manjrekar at Hotel Karan,” said Mr Das, who interviewed both Sachin Tendulkar and and the then star Sanjay Manjrekar and asked them to list down their favourites.

The answers of the questions signify the innocence of a 17-year-old; the reply that stands out is the where he pens down his bat as his best and unforgettable friend.

No wonder his friend has stuck to him for the past 24 years; the two best friends have rewritten the history books in all formats of the game.