Sachin Tendulkar is idolized by a generation of cricketers across the globe.
In a career spanning 24 years, Tendulkar played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs for India, scoring the world record number of runs (15921 in Tests and 18426 in ODIs) and centuries (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs).
Recently, veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on Tendulkar’s influence on him when he was growing up in the 90s.
Speaking to Harsha Bhogle in the third episode of KuttiStorieswithAsh, Ashwin said: “There is this whole group called ‘The 90s Kids,’ right? They talk about how Sachin Tendulkar was an emotion. What Sachin Tendulkar meant to them. You (Harsha) said that he was a poster boy of Indian cricket, wasn’t he? For me, he was the hope that I looked upon every day I got up in the morning."
“When I saw Sachin bat, my stomach used to churn because when he got out, I knew India didn’t stand a chance at that point of time. Sachin was not just a poster boy. He was not just a hope. But he was everything. Not just in cricket. For a young Indian coming up in life, he was everything. Sachin Tendulkar was something else. He was not just a cricketer,” he added.
Ashwin made his India debut in 2010 and had the privilege of sharing the dressing room with Tendulkar until the latter’s retirement in 2013. He was Tendulkar's teammate in the triumphant 2011 World Cup winning campaign.
Ashwin will be next seen in action during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19.