When a young Tendulkar was 'snuck' into Wankhede

Mumbai: About four decades ago, a 10-year-old boy was sneaked into the Wankhede stadium here by a group of people in their 30s and 40s for a match between the visiting West Indies and India as they were 25 in numbers but possessed only 24 tickets. Little did the boy know he would go on to become such a big cricketer that one day his life-size statue would be unveiled at the same stadium.           

Chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ reverberated through a largely empty Wankhede as the statue of legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar was unveiled here on Wednesday evening in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, former BCCI and MCA chief Sharad Pawar, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajeev Shukla among other dignitaries. Amid a splash of confetti, brief fireworks and the beats of the dhol, an emotional Tendulkar, accompanied by his wife Anjali and daughter Sara, watched the statue being unveiled, capturing him playing his signature lofted straight drive by artist Pramod Kamble from Ahmednagar.

"My first visit to the Wankhede Stadium was way back in 1983 as a 10-year-old," began Tendulkar. "The West Indies had come to India. This was after the 1983 World Cup.

"All my colony friends in Bandra, not 10-year-olds but my brother's friends, possibly 30-40-year olds, all decided to go for this match. (We) took a train at Bandra, got down at Churchgate and enjoyed that whole day. I sat in the North Stand. We all know, cricketers know, what North Stand is capable of. When they get behind the team, no opposition can stop India and Mumbai. On the way back in the train, somebody said, 'achcha manage kiya na?' (we managed well, no?). What was that? There were 25 of us and had only 24 tickets for the match. I asked, 'achcha manage kiya, kya kiya?' (What did you manage well?) and they said, 'Sachin ko chupa ke leke jaane ka' (hiding Sachin and taking him in). Sometimes being vertically challenged can be an advantage," reminisced. 

Tendulkar recalled his first meeting with his idol and another Mumbai batting great Sunil Gavaskar at the Wankhede.   

"I was selected to be a ball boy for the 1987 World Cup. I was sitting right in front of the dressing room," he recollected. "A gentleman called Sunil Gavaskar invited me to the dressing room. I can never forget that. He was sitting in the corner. Saw the dressing room, met a few players. I was 14 then, if I am not mistaken. For a 14-year-old to be invited to the dressing room by his hero was a big thing. The very next year, I played for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to play with Sunil Gavaskar."

"There was only one seat available in the dressing room. There were 7-8 India players in the playing 11. I walked to the dressing room, and was looking for a spot to sit. The far left hand seat was vacant and that's where I went and placed my kitbag. I realised that it was SMG's seat. Everyone said 'this was Gavaskar's seat and sit here.' I went out to bat in my debut match and scored a hundred. Not surprising because the seat in the dressing room was not used to being occupied. The crease used to be occupied. I had no choice but to follow my hero's footsteps."

The former India skipper also revealed the reason behind not accepting captaincy after it fell vacant following the resignation of Rahul Dravid 2007.  

“I remember having a meeting with Mr Pawar (who, back then, was the BCCI president) in England and I told him that as a player, my leadership role will always be there. Only the captain's tag won’t be there. Whatever in my capacity, till I hang up my boots, I will always give my 100% for the country. But at this point of time, I don't think I could last the whole day. I had to come inside, both my ankles were giving me trouble. I was finding it hard. Both my ankles would be strapped up, every now and then, I had to go to the dressing room, unstrap the ankles, ice them, restrap them and go back to the field. A lot of challenges and that was the reason I said I shouldn't be but I have a suggestion. 'May I suggest you a name who I feel has a good cricketing brain because I would interact with MS Dhoni, I would field in the slips. The rest is history..."