Sachin Tendulkar lauds brother Ajit Tendulkar's role in his career
The icon thanked his brother for providing unflinching support right through his career
By : moulin parikh
Update: 2014-11-06 02:00 GMT
MUMBAI: They were not in their whites and the cricketing paraphernalia was missing from their armoury, but when the four greats of Indian cricket got back together, the golden period was relived all over again. The launch of Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography “Playing It My Way” saw his friends, family, teammates all joining him on an evening that unearthed unheard nuggets about India’s most decorated cricketer.
“We were openers, but he never took a strike. It was always me. I think I am the only captain who had to make a request to Sachin. He never budged,” reminisced Sourav Ganguly, who first shared a room with Tendulkar when both landed up at the MRF pace academy in their early teens. Former coach Vasu Paranjape and Dilip Vengsarkar spoke about how they feared a media backlash when they thought of including him in the Mumbai team. Ravi Shastri recollected that even as a 16-year-old Tendulkar had advised him while Sunil Gavaskar praised him for his longevity.
Also shedding inhibitions on the special occasion was wife Anjali, who for the first time opened about the story of their affair. “I was at the Mumbai airport to receive my mom and I saw this kid and he was so cute. I ran towards him screaming “Sachin Sachin” and he was so shy he did not look at me,” Anjali recollected. “I didn’t know he was 17 and I had seen him earlier in England, I would have been chasing a 15-year-old too.”
Anjali also revealed how Ajit had instructed her to deliver the message of his father’s death. “We were not allowed to be with the team all the time. I drove back to the hotel and called up Robin Singh and Ajay Jadeja and told them to guard the room and not allow anyone inside. When I broke the news, he almost collapsed.”
Tendulkar thanked his brother, the unsung hero for providing unflinching support right through his career. “There are so many things that he did for me which I am now finding out. He gave me my first bat and the helmet I wore on my debut tour to Pakistan after my retirement.”