Sachin Tendulkar received great help during his formative years as a cricketer from his coach Ramakant Achrekar and now he is giving back to the sport which gave him everything.

Sachin Tendulkar recently announced the formation of his cricket academy in partnership with Middlesex County, named “Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy”. In an interview with Economic Times, Sachin Tendulkar talked about his academy and why he has put sports for girls on top of the agenda.

Here are some excerpts from the interview.

On being asked why he started the academy, Sachin answered, “It was something I always wanted to do. I was waiting for the right time and the right partner. A number of people approached me earlier. But obviously, at the start of this innings, I did not want a tailender at the non-striker’s end. I needed a solid player, and someone I could be on the same page with in terms of what we wanted to achieve. I have spent a long time at Middlesex over the years. They have produced great players for England and have excellent infrastructure. We started this discussion a year ago, and it took us almost 10 months to put things together.”

Tendulkar spoke on the goals of the academy and said, “We will offer cricket coaching from beginner to elite level, and also aim to be a club like the CCI or Bombay Gymkhana where there will be tennis courts, other sports facilities and a club culture. One of our objectives is to transform a sportswatching country like India into a sports-playing nation. This will be one step towards that. Another focus area is to not just produce good players but good human beings.”

Talking about the academy being open to girls, Tendulkar said, “The Indian women’s team has given us many reasons to be proud. But that is not why the program is open to girls. I always felt children should be given enough opportunities, boys as well as girls. Whichever part of the world we go to, we want to encourage both boys and girls.”

Tendulkar also spoke about how he wants to keep his academy different to many other such academies in India.

He said, “My career has always been about the process and not the result. Here, it’s the same thing. What my heart tells me, I will do that. If the process is followed, the results will invariably follow. The important thing is to be passionate and in love with the sport. It made me what I’m today and it is what I hope to do at the academy. Hindi mein kahun to, cricket dil se hona chahiye, dimaag se nahi. Dimaag is required later, when you have to figure out how to score runs against what bowler in what phase of the game. When your heart is in it, you are prepared to work any number of hours. You never look at your watch.”

Tendulkar spoke about his involvement in the academy and scholarships to underprivileged children and said, “My inputs have mainly been in the curriculum. I will attend the camps whenever possible. I have always enjoyed sharing knowledge. Even when there was no designation or an official role, I worked with youngsters. With talent identification at the core of academy, we will provide opportunities for talented underprivileged children with 100 per cent scholarship.”

He also spoke about the best advice given to him and Tendulkar revealed, “On the field, the most profound advice I received was from Achrekar sir. He had told me, “One can never be bigger than the game. Off the field, my father gave me an advice which I continue to follow. He said everything in life is temporary. He asked me to focus on being a nice person first and then do whatever else I wanted to do from a career perspective.”

(With inputs from economictimes.indiatimes.com)