Tendulkar was bestowed with the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the award ceremony in Mumbai.
Tendulkar was bestowed with the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony held in Mumbai.
Speaking at the event, the 51-year-old offered some valuable advice to the young players present at the ceremony.
Tendulkar addressed the youngsters and said that he knows there are distractions around cricket, but they should not let those lose their focus.
"I would say, without cricket, all of us wouldn't be sitting in this room. For me, it has been the ultimate gift of my life. We have bat and ball, and if there is no solid grip over that, or you start losing grip over the bat and ball, you kind of slowly start losing grip over your career also," Tendulkar said at the event.
"I should not be giving you advice and saying 'stay focused' or whatever, but there'll be distractions. Don't let them disrupt your career. Value everything that we have and look after your game. We all have managed; we did not have anything. It is important to value when we have everything and behave in the appropriate manner to take the game forward and the country's name (forward). Like I said, you all are current cricketers; there is plenty of cricket left in you. Just go out, give your best, and make the most of this opportunity, because you only realise once you've stopped playing cricket, where you were a few years ago. So, all the very best to you," he added.
Tendulkar’s comments come at a time when Indian cricket has been going through a transition phase. Ravichandran Ashwin retired midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, while the future of senior stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have come under the scanner.
A total of 26 awards were given out at the BCCI Naman Awards event. Apart from Tendulkar, Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana were honoured as BCCI’s best international cricketers while Ravichandran Ashwin was conferred with a special award.