I Was Mind Blown With Sachin Tendulkar's Instinct, Started Playing Cricket Because Of Him- Shreyas Gopal Reveals His Inspiration

Rajasthan Royals’ Shreyas Gopal has said that he chose to play cricket after idolizing former Indian legendary batsman, Sachin Tendulkar. Shreyas Gopal also revealed interesting anecdotes about Sachin Tendulkar as to how the little master surprised him with his instinct while his time with the Mumbai Indians franchise, in the IPL.

Shreyas will be plying his trade for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2021. The IPL 2021 is all set to kickstart from April 9 this year. Rajasthan Royals dealt with a massive blow even before the tournament began, when one of their marquee players, Jofra Archer, had to return to England for his arm surgery.

Shreyas Gopal Sheds Light On How He Began Playing Cricket

In an exclusive chat with Sportzwiki, Shreyas revealed that it was the inclination towards master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar, that inclined him towards cricket.

“I started playing the game because of Sachin Tendulkar sir. He’s probably been an inspiration for everyone Indian at my age to take up cricket professionally. Mine (inspiration) has been no one else,” Shreyas Gopal said.

Shreyas also threw light on his stint with the Mumbai Indians and what was it like for him to share the same dressing room with Sachin Tendulkar.

“There are a lot of things that we talked about. I was very very fortunate to be in that same dressing room with his presence. My dream would be to have played alongside him which was never fulfilled. Having him in the dressing room was equally good if not better. He shares every experience of everything that he has faced in his cricketing career. It’s just the insight that he gives us as youngsters about how the feeling is to be at that level. He has probably encountered every situation that we are going through,” Shreyas Gopal said.

“One of the things that he explained to me was just looking at the field and try to understand what the bowler is going to bowl. It was pretty amazing as he guessed 12 balls and he got almost all the 12 deliveries spot on. There was probably one delivery where he said wide yorker and the bowler bowled a yorker. Other than that, he got everything on spot. He even predicted where the batsman is going to play,” Gopal further stated.

Sachin Tendulkar Was Too Great A Personality: Shreyas Gopal

Speaking further on the master-blaster, Shreyas Gopal said,“To my surprise, once he predicted that the batsman is going to lap this ball and it got that specific and I was pretty mind-blown with that and I just asked him how he predicted that and he said, ‘You’ll probably understand that in a few years.” 

“But, I don’t think I’ll ever understand that and he was too great and it was great to have him around and he also gave me a lot of advice as a batsman as to what trajectories and deliveries would be difficult to face so that as a bowler I try to repeat that kind of delivery or that kind of a variation,” Gopal further stated.

Shreyas Gopal is all set to take the IPL 2021 campaign by storm as he eyes his maiden India call-up. With the Indian spinner putting up a poor show in the recent limited-overs series, it could well be an opportunity for Gopal to break the door.

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