A look back at some of the hidden controversies of Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar's life and how it impacted his legacy as the 'God of Cricket'.
On April 24, 1973, a child was born in Bombay’s (now Mumbai) famous hospital, Nirmal Nursing Home. The newborn baby’s father was Marathi-novelist, Ramesh Tendulkar, while his mother was Rajni Tendulkar, who used to work in an insurance company. It was a normal day at the hospital, and no one knew that the newborn baby, who would be named Sachin Tendulkar by his parents in the coming days, would become one of the greatest cricketers ever.
As he grew young, his brother, Ajit Tendulkar introduced him to Ramakant Achrekar, who became his coach and the one, who laid the foundation of his illustrious cricketing career. The 'God of cricket', Sachin Tendulkar’s career has more than 49 records to his name. From having the highest number of centuries (49) to his name to being the first cricketer ever to score a double century in ODIs, Sachin’s cricketing records speak volumes about the sort of player he was. There is a reason why we will never see another ‘Master Blaster’ in cricket.
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However, despite all these exceptional records and honours like Arjuna Award, Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna to his name, Sachin Tendulkar never let greatness top his humility. That is the reason why even today, he is respected, adored and cherished by every person in the world. In a career full of trophies, awards and mammoth records, Sachin too, has some infamous controversies too in his name. There are some hidden and not-so-much-talked-about controversies of Sachin’s life that everyone needs to know. So, before further ado, let’s get straight into it!
It was in 2001 when during a Test match between South Africa and India, Sachin Tendulkar was accused of ball-tampering. Apart from being an exceptional batsman, Sachin was also an impressive right-arm leg-break bowler whose deliveries were not a cakewalk even for the finest cricketers. However, Sachin was spotted working on the seam during one of the overs, and the footage shocked everyone. After Sachin was asked about the matter post-match, he revealed that he was cleaning the seam. But even if he was believed, he should’ve told the umpire about it first. Thus, the cricketing board fined 75% of his match fee and even suspended him for one Test match.
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The year 2001 was not a memorable year for Sachin Tendulkar as he received a lot of hate and backlash for selling his Ferrari 360 Modena to a Surat-based businessman, Jayesh Desai. The luxurious sports car was gifted to Sachin by Formula One legend, Michael Schumacher. But the cricketer sold it after reports went rife that the government wanted to exempt the hefty 120% import duty on Sachin’s Ferrari 360 Modena.
Even today, Sachin Tendulkar’s name is taken as an example when it comes to teaching youngsters to put their team before themselves. However, during a Test match against Pakistan in 2004, Sachin was playing at 194 and was just six runs short of an incredible double-century. But to everyone’s surprise, the then-captain, Rahul Dravid declared the innings without talking to Sachin, who was inches away from his double century. Sachin even mentioned the same in his autobiography, Playing It My Way, and wrote this about the incident:
"I assured Rahul that the incident would have no bearing on my involvement on the field, but off the field, I would prefer to be left alone for a while to come to terms with what had happened."
More than Sachin Tendulkar, the way former Indian cricketer, Vinod Kambli narrated the tales of their broken friendship resulted in portraying Master Blaster as a villain. According to a report in India Today, Vinod sat down in an interview with a leading news channel and shared how Sachin refused to help him during his life’s lowest phase. Not only this, but Vinod also added how he couldn’t understand why he was dropped out of the team and when he expected Sachin to look into the matter or help him, he turned his back on him.
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During a Test match in 2008, Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds got into a heated argument, and the former reportedly racially abused the Australian cricketer. When the inspection was held, and Sachin Tendulkar was asked about the racism controversy, he opted for a neutral response. However, later when he started receiving backlash for saving Harbhajan, Sachin admitted that he heard his Indian teammate abusing Symonds in Hindi. However, he added that Harbhajan didn’t racially abuse Symonds.
Like everyone on the earth, Sachin Tendulkar also has some controversies due to bad decisions or other people’s adverse reactions. But it cannot remove the fact that he will always remain the God of cricket.
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