5 occassions when Sachin Tendulkar perservered where others may have quit

A bat in hand rarely fails to bring a smile to the faceLooking at the stratospheric heights Sachin Tendulkar has attained, it's easy to take his path to superstardom for granted. Legends such as him transcend reality, we see them as larger than life figures and it is difficult to ever perceive them as being anything other than completely amazing at what they do. While he belonged to a fairly well to do family, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. You may be surprised to find out that Sachin had to face innumerable barriers in his path during childhood which many budding cricketers may have faced as well.After reading this, the next time you feel a flicker of annoyance at that kid who bumps into you with an oversized cricket kit slung over his shoulder, give him an encouraging smile so he doesn’t feel a stab of guilt at availing the bus in his smelly clothes. You may just see that face smiling back at you, raising his bat to acknowledge a century, on a TV screen someday.

#1 Kid with a bloodied face lugging a cricket kit up a flyover

Caption

At the age of 12, Sachin was captaining his team at Shivaji park. His team’s wicketkeeper sustained an injury. Sachin looked around for volunteers to keep but no one was ready to, so like a good captain , even though he was uncomfortable playing an unfamiliar position, he volunteered to keep . He missed a knick and the ball hit him square in the face, barely missing his eye. He got a deep cut and bled profusely. He didn’t have the money to take a taxi home, and was too embarrassed to take the bus with a bloodied face.

He asked his friend to give him a lift on his bicycle. On they went, lugging two heavy cricket kit bags. There was a busy flyover en route, and his friend found it difficult to pedal up. Sachin ended up walking uphill on the flyover, with commuters staring at the "young kid with a bloodied face, and bloodstained shirt lugging his cricket kit over a flyover”. When he finally made it home he only confided in his grandmother, who put warm turmeric on his cut.

#2 A cricket kit bag armour on the bus

Saching wasn’t much bigger than the kit bag when he had to lug it around

During his first year at Shardashram Sachin had to travel four times a day on buses and trains. He had to stand with his kitbag in the crowded Mumbai buses with his kit bag. The bag being bulky, the conductors would regularly complain saying that he's taking up space for two passengers. To add to his embarrassment he would be donning dirty and smelly clothes on his way back from practice.

This is just a teenager who’s being berated by conductors and passengers, not a grown-up who can snap back or politely accommodate himself comfortably. Over time he figured a way to wrap his kitbag around him to insulate him. "Just as the helmet and pads became a part of me while batting, so the kitbag became an extension of me on the bus."- said Sachin.

#3 Running out of money during junior days

Caption

In his first season for the Mumbai U-15 team, Sachin travelled to Pune with 95 paise in his pocket. In his first match for Mumbai he was run out because the other batsman called for a third run which wasn't there to be had. It rained heavily the next few days in Pune and Sachin didn't get to play another innings. As a result he didn't get selected for the West Zone Under-15 team, and some of his teammates who didn't play a single ball got selected over him.

Murphy’s law came into effect as he ran out of money having spent it all on food, and had to walk back from Dadar station to Shivaji park, carrying two big bags and crying all the way. Upon reaching his uncle's place, he didn't confide in them and just said that he wasn't feeling too well. Many grownups may recall a similar bad break they may have had in their childhood days which put them off of pursuing the sport, thinking to themselves that the superstars must have had it easy. We can consider ourselves lucky that Sachin chose to persevere instead.

#4 One set of cricket clothes

Sachin made sure to keep his uniform clean

One year of commuting from his home to school, a hour and half long commute, took its toll. So Sachin moved to his uncle and aunt's place for four years. At the age of 11 he only had one set of cricket clothes, and he’d have to use them for his twice a day practice.

He would wake up early to make the 40 minute commute to reach at 7:30 AM, practice till 10:30 AM, come back and wash his clothes and frantically hope for them to dry during lunch. Then off he’d go to practice in the evening, after which he’d wash them again to have them fresh for the next morning. He could never get the pockets to dry though, and he always played with wet pockets at that time.

#5 Out of his depth?

A hard road

Playing in his fourth test at Sialkot, between 9-14 December 1989, Sachin ended up bloodied and embarressed again. Those who believe in luck/fate may see this as another sign from above to quit this pursuit. Owing to heavy fog in the morning and shorter days, the matches would start late and end early each afternoon.

Waqar Younis bowled a short delivery to Sachin, it rose higher than he anticipated and hit the flap of his helmet and bounced to hit his nose as he was playing without a grille on his helmet. He felt his vision blur and noticed blood splattered on his shirt.

Javed Miandad taunted him saying "Arre tujhe to abhi hospital jana parega, tera naak tut gaya hai" (You'll have to go to the hospital, your nose is broken.). To top it off there was a banner in the stands reading "Bachhe ghar ka dudh pie ke aa." (Kid, go home and drink milk.).Sachin chose to not do that, he chose to perservere have the team doctor put some ice on his nose and he continuted to play in spite of his injury. Ultimately he was dismissed the next day for 57.