The slap that saved cricketer Tendulkar's career

Ramakant Achrekar, the coach who set Sachin Tendulkar on the path to becoming a modern day great, turned 79 on Saturday and a secret which he kept to himself about Tendulkar became public during his birthday celebrations. During a visit to Dubai to conduct a coaching camp, Achrekar told Gulf News that the secret behind Tendulkar's success has been his huge hunger for runs. What he didn't reveal was the time he smote his favourite student to drive home the importance of hard work as he sought to instill that hunger. This incident, which Achrekar had always kept a secret, was revealed by Tendulkar himself during a function held at the Maharashtra Cricket Association office in Bandra to mark Achrekar's birthday. Narrating the incident, Tendulkar said: "After finishing school, I used to hurry to my aunt's place for lunch. By that time, Sir [Achrekar] used to organise matches for me. He used to tell the opposition that I'd be batting at number four. One day, instead of playing a match, I joined a friend at the Wankhede Stadium to watch the Shardashram English-medium [school] boys take on the Shardashram Marathi-medium boys in the Harris Shield final and cheer our team." Achrekar was also at the Wankhede stadium and Tendulkar approached him. "We spotted Sir and went to greet him. He knew I'd missed the match, but he still asked me how I performed in it. I told him I thought that I'd skip the match in order to cheer for our team. I got a tight slap on my face. The tiffin box in my hand flew and all its contents spilled," Tendulkar said. Stern advice Achrekar told a stunned Tendulkar: "You don't have to be here to cheer others. Play in such a way that others cheer you." Tendulkar recalled: "Since that day, I began practising very hard and put in a lot of hours. If not for that day, I might have been cheering others from the stands." Tendulkar also recalled how Achrekar never asked him to jog across the Shivaji Park ground before the start of practice, but used to tell him after the training session — when he was totally exhausted — to run in full gear with bat and pads. "Years later, I realised how much that running with the gear helped me."