The legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has been a leader of the fascinating game. He has set many incredible records on the cricket field which a cricketer can only dream of to achieve. From being the highest run-scorer to maximum century getter, Tendulkar has accomplished everything, and even after retiring, he remains at the top.
Even off the field, Tendulkar has been an inspiration simply by his soft-spoken nature. Lots of people admire the ‘Master Blaster’ for his down to earth attitude, mainly because he is being celebrated as the ‘God of cricket’. One of the biggest reasons behind Tendulkar’s polite nature is his roots of growing up in a middle-class family.
The batting genius has often expressed about his late father Ramesh Tendulkar’s positive influence and how some of the teachings that he received from his father helped him grow into a good human being.
Speaking about the same, on Saturday (June 13), Tendulkar recalled his father’s words of wisdom, who wanted the right-handed batsman to be a role model for future generations. It is the prime reason that Tendulkar never endorsed alcohol or tobacco products.
“This was a promise I made to my father. He told me I am a role model, and a lot of people will follow what you do. That is why I have never endorsed tobacco products or alcohol. In the 1990s my bat didn’t have a sticker on it, I didn’t have a contract. But everybody else in the team was endorsing two brands in particular – Wills and Four Square,” said Tendulkar to Aaj Tak – a Hindi news channel.
Tendulkar revealed that he had promised his father not to endorse any alcohol or tobacco related brands.
“I didn’t break my promise that I gave to my father by not endorsing these brands. I got many offers from them to endorse their brand by having their sticker on my bat, but I didn’t want to promote all that. I have stayed away from these two things and have never broken the promise to my father,” the 47-year-old added.
The Mumbaikar also requested people to obey the government guidelines in order to overcome the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tendulkar shed lights on the importance of washing hands as well.
“We have been trying to send this message across for a long time. Diarrheal diseases happen because of dirty hands. Washing our hands is very important, we keep taking our health for granted. I request everyone not to take their health for granted. Sanitization and hygiene has to be maintained, and that is the message we have tried to spread for a long time,” Tendulkar added further.
Tendulkar urged that everyone should act together as a team in order to defeat their biggest enemy, i.e. Coronavirus.
“We all are in one team trying to defeat Coronavirus. We don’t have to compete with ourselves; we have to look at ways to defeat the virus. Even if somebody wants to help financially or in any other way, he should make sure to follow all the norms provided by the health ministry. We have to progress as one team in the fight against Covid-19,” said the former Indian captain.
“It is hard on the people, and the MHA is giving directives accordingly to people. The message that I want to give is that direction is more important than speed in life. If the direction is correct, we can increase the speed. We need to follow the directives given to us by the health ministry, it is difficult, but we have to do it,” concluded Tendulkar.
