Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Ravi Shastri's One Advice That Changed His Entire Career

Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as the ‘God of Cricket.’ He deserves the stature as well because he went on to do something that is still unimaginable in modern-day cricket. You step out and ask any cricketer playing international cricket for India as to who was the reason behind them taking up cricket; there will be only one answer-Sachin Tendulkar.

Such is the reputation of the little master all across the globe that an 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s kid, all regard him the best there has ever been due to a career spread over four decades. Sachin was near perfect, and he had it all. From the luscious On Drive to the eye-soothing Cover Drive. From the aggressive Pull Shot to the smart Upper Cut, there was nothing that fazed Sachin Tendulkar.

However, while he was evolving as a cricketer and rising through the ranks of world cricket, there were a lot of people who helped him in reaching the summit. Recently, Sachin Tendulkar shared a piece of advice that the current Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had given to him in his early days, which changed his life forever.

Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Ravi Shastri’s One Advice That Changed His Entire Career

Sachin had to endure numerous blows to his body at the hands of the Pakistani pace attack and eventually made 15 runs in his debut innings. Tendulkar revealed that he felt completely out of place after the match and believed that the game could be his ‘first and the last outing’.

But Tendulkar said that a suggestion from current coach Ravi Shastri changed everything for him and there was no looking back.

“I was clueless; I have to admit that. I played the first Test as if I was playing a school match,” Sachin told Nasser Hussain during ‘Nasser meets Sachin’ episode on Skysports.

“Wasim and Waqar were bowling quick, and they were delivering short balls and all sorts of intimidating things they could do. I had never experienced anything like that, so the first outing wasn’t a pleasant one,” he added.

“Occasionally, I got beaten by their pace and bounce, and when I got out on 15, I felt embarrassed when I walked back to the dressing room. I was like ‘what have you done, why did you play like this’ and then when I reached the dressing room, I went straight to the bathroom, and I was almost in tears,” Sachin further elaborated.

“I felt I was completely out of place. I looked at myself and questioned myself and said: ‘looks like this is gonna be your first and the last outing’. I felt that I’m not good enough to play at this level. I was upset and feeling low,” Tendulkar narrated.

Ravi Shastri Gave One Of The Most Valuable Advice: Sachin Tendulkar

“The teammates realised. I still remember the conversation I had with Ravi Shastri. Ravi said, ‘you played as if it was a school match. You are playing against the best bowlers; you need to respect their ability and their skill. Then I told Ravi that I got beaten by their (Pakistan bowlers) pace. To which Ravi said: ‘That happens to quite a few, you don’t worry. You just look to go out and spend half an hour in the middle and then you will get adjusted to their pace, and everything will fall into place after that’,” Sachin Tendulkar added.

“When I was picked to play in the second Test at Faisalabad, the only thing on my mind was, I’m not gonna look at the scoreboard. I will only look at the clock and not worry about scoring runs. I batted for half an hour, and I felt really comfortable and I scored 59 runs in that match and after that things started changing,” he said.

Eventually, Sachin tied his laces ad stepped on the pitch at Faislabad only to hang his boots 24 years later. Who would have then imagined that a young guy from India could have gone on to become the ‘God of Cricket’ and inspire an entire age of goons to take up the sport?

Also Read: Sachin Tendulkar’s List Of Top All-Rounders Include No Current Players