Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday (February 23) opined that sport only recognises on-field performance and not the background of an athlete.
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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). He also holds the record for most runs, centuries, fifties in ICC Cricket World Cup and is the most capped player in Tests and ODIs.
“Every time we enter the dressing room, it really didn’t matter where you came from, which part of the country and where you belong. It was a level field for everyone.
“Sport doesn’t recognise anything other than your performance on field,” Tendulkar told PTI after being named as the brand ambassador of e-learning platform ‘Unacademy’.
He spoke about sports unifying people through the new initiative.
“You are out there as an individual who wants to contribute towards the team,” the 47-year-old said.
“That is what we want to do, try and share my experiences. (I was) being part of different schools along board and met different coaches. I myself learnt a lot and those are the experiences I want to share.
“We will be conducting classes free of cost, so I think we wanted this platform to be accessible to anyone and everyone,” he added.
After reaching his 100th ton in international cricket back in 2012, Sachin Tendulkar had said “chase your dreams, dreams do come true” and he reiterated the same for the students.
“Continue to chase your dreams, dreams do come true, number of times we push ourselves and we feel it is a dead end, but it is never dead end, so take that extra step and you will achieve your goal,” he said.
The batting legend has often spoken about his late father Ramesh Tendulkar’s positive influence on his career.
On this occasion, Sachin recalled how his dad, who was a professor, travelled through Mumbai to teach his students.
“When we talk about accessibility, I remember my father, was also a professor and he would travel from one end to other end of Mumbai and constantly be busy teaching his students.
“Today if he was alive, he would have been really proud of what Unacademy has enabled to do, because then not in thousands, but millions had access to him.”
(With PTI inputs)
