‘Sachin Tendulkar is the toughest Mumbai cricketer I have seen’

I have played with Sachin Tendulkar since our under-15 days and I remember him as a boy who was completely in love with the game. Every spare second he had, he would make somebody bowl to him or give him a few throw downs and he would keep on batting.

Jatin Paranjape says that Sachin Tendulkar (right) is not only the greatest batsman in the world, but he is also a great source of motivation © IANS

By Jatin Paranjpe

I have played with Sachin Tendulkar since our under-15 days and I remember him as a boy who was completely in love with the game. Every spare second he had, he would make somebody bowl to him or give him a few throw downs and he would keep on batting. That didn’t change at all as he continued to remain in love with the game and that is the key to why has been around for so many years. Sachin was a small boy, but strong. He had strong wrists and forearms. He had the strongest arm in our team — by a long way. So you could see that this guy was completely built for the game.

Sachin Tendulkar was extremely mischievous and was up to some prank or the other. There are many funny incidents I remember. We were in Rajkot for an under-15 game and were staying in a dorm at the Rajkumar College. Sachin, Vinod [Kambli], Mayur Kadrekar and I were really thick at that time and we would put off the lights out and start a boot-throwing war. Just before switching off the lights, we would gather all the boots close to us. That was pretty much par for the course. We enjoyed taking the mickey out of strangers on trains and roads. Vinod is the funniest guy I have met in my life. Vinod was the ring-leader, Sachin was the lieutenant and Mayur and I were the foot soldiers.

It was very apparent and unspoken at the outset that Sachin was going to be the next big batsman from Mumbai. Even then, he would dominate from Ball One. He always batted at No 4. Vinod was at No 3 and I at No 5. When we graduated to play Ranji Trophy, Vinod and I exchanged spots. As a youngster, Sachin was dominant, even on the choir mattings. Even if we lost a couple of early wickets, he would go in and get a hundred before we knew what was happening. So, at No 5, I often had to wait a long time with Vinod and Sachin batting together.

I remember an under-15 tournament where Sachin was captaining Mumbai and I was his deputy. We named an eleven which we wanted. The manager didn’t agree and said, “This guy can’t be in the eleven, someone else has to come instead.” I remember Sachin said, “No. This is the team we want. If you won’t give me this team, you can drop me.” That is a facet an average cricket fan doesn’t know. He sees Sachin as the greatest batsman in the world, but he is also a great source of motivation. He was a player’s captain and guys who have played with him would know that. He would give an arm and a leg to do his best for the team.

My father [Vasu Paranjpe] was a coach for our under-15 national camp. During the course of the camp, the watchman of the place where we were put up came and told my father, “Sir who chotta ladka batting kar raha hai. Raat ke 10.30 baj gaye aur woh light lagake batting kar raha hai.” (Sir, that short boy [Tendulkar] is batting. It is 10.30 at night and he is batting with lights on).

My father said, “Toh aap idhar kya kar rahe ho. Usko jaake bowling daalo!” (What are you doing here? Go and bowl to him!)

I don’t know what technical input my father gave Sachin, but over the years, he would always ask, “Sir, have you watched my innings? Did you notice anything?” He continued doing that and he would even pass the message through someone. But, I am sure my father has always told him to play his natural game, which was to dominate.

Mumbai cricket is the school of the tough. If you are not mentally tough, you will not make it. It is as simple as that. You could have all the talent in the world, but if you are not tough mentally, that system will just throw you out. The tradition, the past performances of Mumbai, the coaches right from our young age, the selectors and obviously your seniors shape you.  And it is in this environment, Sachin emerged as the toughest Mumbai cricketer I have seen.

— As told to Nishad Pai Vaidya

(Jatin Paranjpe is a former India cricketer who played four One-Day Internationals (ODIs). In domestic cricket, he was an important part of the strong Mumbai line-up in the 1990s. In 62 First-Class matches, he scored 3964 runs at an average of 46.09 with 13 tons)

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