Sachin Tendulkar pays tribute to coach, friend and mentor, the late great Ajit Wadekar

Ajit Wadekar passed away at the age of 77 on August 15, 2018.

Sachin Tendulkar and Ajit Wadekar | Mid-day.com Former India and Mumbai captain Ajit Wadekar took his last breath in the evening of August 15, 2018. The Indian stalwart is regarded as one of the giants of the game and India won its first ever away Test series against England and West Indies under his captaincy.

Sachin Tendulkar, who played under Ajit Wadekar, who was the coach of the Indian team in the early 1990s; paid rich tributes to his coach, mentor, and friend.

Sachin, in an interview with The Hindustan Times, said, “The news of Ajit Wadekar Sir’s passing away came as a complete shock to me. I had met him some time ago and he had looked normal.”  

Sachin further said, “We have spent a lot of time together. I remember he was appointed our coach at the end of 1992, and he came as someone who had worn multiple hats, having been the captain of India, a great player himself, and most of all he was a real good person. Slowly, he got to understand us, to the extent that he became friends with us. He would sit with Vinod Kambli and myself and chat like friends.

He was our coach at a critical stage of our careers, Vinod was 21 and I was 20. It was fantastic to have him. He would really challenge us and we would challenge him. For example, in training before a Test match, he would give us the toughest of catches and we would challenge him that he should make us drop one,” Sachin said about the tutelage of Wadekar.

Sachin also spoke about Wadekar’s sense of humor and revealed, “We could crack jokes with each other and at each other’s expense. Segregation is something I learned from him: when you went time-pass, you do time-pass, when you are training or playing, you put everything else aside and completely focus on the job.

Sachin Tendulkar started his career as a middle-order batsman, even in the ODI setup. However, he revealed that it was Ajit Wadekar, who encouraged his idea of opening the innings in 1994.

Sachin reveals, “He did play a critical part in my becoming an opening batsman in one-day cricket (1994 Auckland, v New Zealand). Navjot Singh Sidhu had a stiff neck and I told Mr Wadekar, I feel I should open the innings. I could only do that because we shared such a great rapport. ‘I need only one chance, I know I can do it,’ I told him. We were very much on the same page and we went to captain Mohammed Azharuddin and the meeting happened at the ground (before the match). Azhar and Wadekar Sir agreed and it was such a big decision because till then I had only batted at No 4 and No 6.

Sachin continued, “If he felt anything was wrong in our game, he would point out our mistakes and told us what we had to do. Always, emphasizing on the khadoos attitude of never to give the wicket away easily.

In his parting words, Sachin said one last thing as a tribute to Wadekar, “He loved us from the bottom of his heart. He was our friend, mentor, and coach.

(With inputs from Hindustantimes.com)

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 17 Aug, 2018

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