Two of the greatest cricketers of all time – India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistan’s Wasim Akram – enthralled a capacity crowd last night with their insight into the game and provided a rare glimpse into their lives.
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In conversation with commentator Harsha Bhogle at Rixos The Palm Dubai, Tendulkar and Akram were participating in ‘Cricket and Beyond’ – the first of a series of celebrity talk shows events planned in various cities across the world.
The 90-minute chat touched upon various aspects of the careers of both the players, including Tendulkar’s constant battle with injuries and Akram playing eight years of top-flight cricket after being diagnosed with diabetes.
The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Tendulkar’s answer when Bhogle asked him if he thought the contemporary Indian cricketers had a different attitude from those of their generation, especially with so much money in the game after the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Wonderful evening with @sachin_rt & @wasimakramlive at the wonderful Rixos Palm in Dubai. The champs were in their element #CricketandBeyond
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 9, 2015
“Cricket has to be in your heart. If you are looking only to make money, then you might as well do something else, because your cricket is not going to last for long,” said the man who spent 24 years in Indian colours.
“For me, cricket started in my heart and slowly found its way to my brain where I figured out how to score my runs and if I have to bowl, what are the areas I need to bowl.
“When I went to Australia in 1991-92, we were there for a long period for five Test matches, 11 ODIs and the World Cup. The whole tour lasted four and a half months, and I remember our entire tour fee was Rs100,000 (Dh5,675) at that time.
“But that did not bother me much and I did not sit back thinking ‘Oh, I am only making Rs100,000’. It was not a priority for me. Really, the priority was to play for India, and I would have played happily even if I wasn’t paid anything. That was priceless for me.
“Even the last match I played for India, I don’t know how much I was paid. Every player who cares for his cricket, will not know how much is his bank account. The only account that matters at the end of the day is how many runs you have scored and how many wickets you have picked. If that’s the only thing that matters, you will become a good cricketer.
“It was always the number of runs I scored that gave me peace and a good night’s sleep and not how much money I made, or how many contracts I signed.”
Akram, who starred for Pakistan between 1985 and 2003, said certain things have changed drastically in modern day cricket.
“Certainly, there is a lot more awareness, and there are so many more facilities for them,” said Akram. “When I started out, we played cricket for six months in Pakistan and I used to crave for competitive cricket the other six months. Even after I became a part of Pakistan national team, I would stop my car if I saw people playing cricket alongside the road and join them and bowl.
Sachin Tendulkar & Wasim Akram at an Event in Dubai Today. pic.twitter.com/y3DJF4JscB
— Cricmates (@Cricmates) October 9, 2015
“And in our time, we would bowl at the nets for hours together. Now, the players are even told they do not need to practice everyday.”
Tendulkar also revealed that he was so frustrated with his injuries that there was a time in 2007 that he contemplated retirement.
“I think the only part of my body that is still intact is my head. I have had so many injuries that I can easily write a book on them,” said Tendulkar.
“I scored a couple of good knocks in the VB Series in Australia in 2007, but I was playing with a groin injury. Then I had tennis elbow, and it used to be so painful at times that I actually could not open a door to let people in. And I missed the first seven matches of the inaugural IPL because I was just struggling. I could not understand how the game could be so cruel to me.
“It was during one such moment of frustration that I spoke to my wife, Anjali, and she said something that really changed my whole attitude.
“She said ‘Why can’t you be thankful to God that you have had 18 great years of cricket career? You will have to accept that you can’t always have everything’. I realized she was right. And that put me at ease.”
