Sachin Tendulkar reveals he did not have money for a cab ride during his childhood days

Iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar may be one of the richest sportsmen in the world. However, there were even days when the wildly popular player fell short of saving money for a taxi ride to home.

Indian Express reported the veteran reminiscing about his formative years as a sports person. During the launch of the 'Digibank’ feature of DBS India, Sachin revealed his harrowing experience as a 12-year old.

He said, “I was only 12 years old and was selected to play for the Mumbai Under-15 team. I was excited, carried some money and we went to Poona (Pune) to play three matches. And it started raining there.”

Tendulkar recollected, “Because it had rained, we had nothing to do the whole day, except to go out, watch a movie and eat. Without knowing, how to spend my money and how to equally pace myself and save money, I finished everything and when I came back to Mumbai by train; there was not a penny in my pocket.”

Adding that the instigator for the incident was a rather disappointing outing with the bat, the Mumbaikar affirmed, “When I got my turn, I was out on 4, run-out. I was only 12 and could barely run at a decent pace. I was disappointed and came back to the dressing room crying. And after that I did not get another chance to bat.”

The 43-year old continued, “I was carrying two big bags, we got off at Dadar station and I had to walk to Shivaji Park because I had no money. Can you imagine, if I had a phone in my hand, one SMS and my father or my mother would have transferred the amount to my phone and may be I would have travelled by cab?”

However, technology was not on offer during those days. The ‘Little Master’ also spoke about the instance when he became the first batsman to be adjudged out by a third umpire at Kingsmead, Durban.

The illustrious batsman mentioned, “When it comes to technology, yours truly was the first one to be given out by the third umpire in 1992. I was given run out by the third umpire. Sometimes, technology can’t go your way. While fielding, you need the right decisions from the third umpire, but not while batting.”

Sachin noted that he was intrigued when coaches began to make use of computers for preparing the players. He asserted, “We were suddenly told that there is going to be a computer in the dressing room which was in 2002-03. A computer is not going to teach you how to bat“

As time progressed, the stalwart began to acknowledge the utility of computers into strategizing for each opposition. Tendulkar enthused, "But, over a period of time we realised that planning and executing those plans was not left to imagination. We could actually set up a projector and have all those data displayed on the screen.”

Maybe, we can expect more fascinating events in the great man’s career when an upcoming documentary on his life is released.