Notes from Sachin Tendulkar's farewell speech

1) Journey is overSachin Tendulkar started off by calming the crowd down so that he could talk. He also spoke on how emotional he was, as his journey as an international cricketer had finally ended.

2) Father, mother, uncle and aunt

The master batsman then went on to remember his father Ramesh Tendulkar, who sadly passed away during the 1999 World Cup in England. During the tournament, Tendulkar had hit a marvellous century against Kenya after attending his father’s funeral in India. That showed how remarkable a cricketer and human Tendulkar was.

He thanked his mother Rajni Tendulkar for keeping up with all his antics when he was young and for all her prayers over the years. He also thanked his uncle and aunt, with whom he stayed for four years during his schooling as he found it hard to travel from his house to his school, which were far off from each other.

3) Nitin, Savita, Ajit

The man with 100 tons in international cricket acknowledged his step-brothers Nitin Tendulkar, Ajit Tendulkar and step-sister Savita Tendulkar. He spoke of how much confidence Nitin had in him, whilst revealing that Savita was the person presented him with his first bat. He also disclosed that Savita always fasted while he was batting.

Ajit was probably the most influential family member with respect to his cricketing career and Sachin showed his gratitude to Ajit by saying that he would have been a much lesser cricketer if not for Ajit. Ajit was also the one who introduced him to coach Ramakant Achrekar, who Sachin would thank later on in his speech.

4) Anjali, Sara, Arjun

Sachin Tendulkar with his wife Anjali

Sachin spoke on how the most beautiful thing to have happened to him was in 1990 when he met his would-be wife Anjali. He thanked her for bearing with him for all the years. Anjali looked on, struggling to hide her tears. Sachin called his partnership with Anjali as the best of his life.

He then had a word about his children – Sara Tendulkar and Arjun Tendulkar – whom he described as the “two precious diamonds” of his life. Having not had much of a chance to spend a quality time with them over the years, he promised that he will make up for lost time from now on.

5) Anand and Annabel Mehta

He thanked his in-laws Anand and Annabel Mehta for allowing him to marry their daughter Anjali. Sachin’s father-in-law Anand Mehta is a Gujarati industrialist, while his mother-in-law is a Britain-born social activist who has been working in India for the last 47 years.

6) Friends

Legendary musician Bob Marley once said, “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

I’m sure that Tendulkar’s friends will all agree that he was worth suffering for. And Sachin was grateful for that, thanking them for helping him through the difficult times even at odd hours of the night.

7) Achrekar sir

Ramakant Achrekar watching Tendulkar score his 100th century at his house in Mumbai on March 16, 2012

He then spoke on how obliged he was to his mentor Ramakant Achrekar, who started coaching the little master at the age of 11. Tendulkar also joked on how Achrekar never muttered the words “well played” to his star pupil as he didn’t want the highest scorer in the history of international cricket to ever get complacent.

8) MCA, BCCI

Many members of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) weere present on the occasion and Tendulkar thanked them for all their support to him over the years.

9) Players

The fab four of India’s batting over the last 15 years

The master blaster showed his gratitude to his teammates over the years. Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were shown on the big screen to huge cheers from the crowd in attendance at the Wankhede. He also remembered the other member of the ‘Fab Four’ Anil Kumble, who was unfortunately not present at the match.

Tendulkar was also thankful to senior cricketers and coaches, and conveyed to the current players that he has complete faith that they will bring great honour for the country.

10) Trainers, Physios, Doctors

Tendulkar was grateful to all the people who helped him keep fit during his long and distinguished career. During a 24-year sporting career, one is bound to suffer many injuries and it was no different with Tendulkar. The Mumbaikar was especially grateful to the doctors who help him recover him from those injuries as quickly as possible.

11) Mark Mascarenhas, WSG, Vinod Naidu

He remembered the late Mark Mascarenhas, who made Sachin the first millionaire cricketer in 1995 and set the brand named Sachin Tendulkar loose in the 1990s. He went on to also thank World Sport Group (WSG) and their vice-president Vinod Naidu, who have worked closely with him over the last 14 years.

12) Media, Photographers

Not many sportspersons or celebrities show their courtesy for the media, but Tendulkar is different. He thanked the media for standing by him and the photographers for capturing his career in a splendid manner.

13) People for the support

Last but not the least, Sachin showed his appreciation for his fans – the millions who have followed his career and shown him so much love and affection. He said the chants fans made for him would stay with him until he breathes his last, which led to a loud chorus of “Sachin… Sachin” chants around the stadium.

The video of the speech can be found here.

The entire transcript of the speech can be found here.