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When the ‘Little Masters’ got together

Sports Reporter

Gavaskar and Tendulkar in an engaging conversation

— FILE Photo: PTI

LIVING LEGENDS: Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar share with CNN-IBN viewers the fabrication of the ultimate cricketing dream.

CHENNAI: The coming together of Test cricket’s 12,000-run man and his original 10,000-run idol was bound to be an eye-opener of paramount significance. The two ‘little masters’— Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar — were led through an engaging conversation by Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN, on the requirements and routine that went into the fabrication of the ultimate cricketing dream.

The two national icons were face to face for an exclusive chit-chat session titled “Little Masters” that will be aired on CNN-IBN and IBN-7.

Secret of success

While Tendulkar revealed what it was like to survive and succeed under the constant pressure of expectation and how winning the 2011 World Cup would be the definitive triumph, Gavaskar made it explicitly clear that his favourite protégé was in ship shape to continue till the premier event two years from now.

Speaking on the large-scale, run-by-run hounding that his latest achievement was subjected to, Sachin said: “To be honest, it still hasn’t sunk in. I was just focusing on the ball and was fed up with the usual ‘you have to do it’ and ‘when will you do it’ queries. I just wanted to enjoy my cricket rather than go chase records. I knew that records would be broken automatically and I didn’t need to focus on that.”

The parallels between the two compact bat-wielders from Mumbai are strikingly similar, and when Gavaskar empathised with Tendulkar’s quagmire, it was solely on the basis of experience.

“When I got close to Sir Don’s 29-century mark, it was all people could talk about. You got off the aircraft and the aircraft maintenance guys would ask you about it, you ordered from room service and the delivery guy would say ‘we want your 29th century here’. We didn’t even have i-pods then to help us tune out,” he said.

Prolific batsmen

Both prolific batsmen harnessed equally effective but disparate styles to accumulate runs. Tendulkar has often confessed to having modelled his game after that of Gavaskar and Vivian Richards which, in effect, has meant that he had two paradoxically efficient philosophies of batting to draw from all through his career.

Gavaskar admitted that there were various paths that lead to the same pinnacle of achievement.

“Yes, there are different methods to get runs. It also depends on the kind of game that you have… you could be a frontfoot player, you could be a backfoot player, you could be good on the off-side, your grip might be suited to an on-side game. Take the Indian team, there are so many different styles. There’s Sachin, there’s VVS, there’s Sehwag… all with different methods of dealing with the same kind of delivery.”

Gavaskar also acknowledged that he was sometimes tempted to emulate Tendulkar’s hitting prowess and his ability to “destroy the bowling attack”.

“I enjoy watching Sachin and Sehwag bat because they do the kind of things that I wanted to do but was unable to do. Probably it was a mental block. But this is what happens to former cricketers with unfulfilled aspirations. There is a sense of fulfilment and enjoyment in what the next generation does,” he said.

Enduring relationship

The relationship that the two Mumbaikars share has also been a part of cricketing folklore. From the time an ‘awe-struck’ Gavaskar presented his leg guards to Tendulkar before his Ranji Trophy debut, the liaison has only strengthened over the years.

In fact, Gavaskar went as far as stating that he always knew that, injuries notwithstanding, the cherubic lad would, one day, “possess all the batting records in the world”.

Something special

“Please ask my wife what I felt when I first saw him bat. I had heard so much about him…I went and saw him from a corner because I didn’t want him to be conscious of the fact that I was standing behind the nets. After that, I went home and told my wife that I had seen something really special. She was surprised because I had never said as much about any cricketer before.”

Asked what his greatest achievement on the cricket field was, Gavaskar said: “It has to be the 1983 World Cup win. Nothing can beat that. Nobody gave us a chance and we played good cricket and we won the World Cup. I will not advise Sachin, but I will make a plea to him: please regain the World Cup for us in 2011.”

Tendulkar agreed that the World Cup was a glittering omission from his imposing resume.

“It has always been a dream because that (World Cup) is the ultimate thing you can get for your country. We came so close to it in 2003 but, I thought, we tried a little too hard in the final.”

Conjecture over the World Cup apart, Sachin let on how he would like to be remembered as “one who always played for the team and one who has had some impact on the next generation and set targets for them to achieve.”

‘Little Masters’ will be telecast on CNN-IBN and IBN-7 on Friday, October 24 at 8 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. respectively.

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