Sachin Tendulkar motivates Indian athletes, asks them to embrace pressure
Sachin Tendulkar advised the Indian athletes at the London Olympics to embrace pressure than fighting it © AFP
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Jul 28, 2012
Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar while wishing the Indian contingent at the London Olympics luck has urged them to give their best and not worry about the results.
India won three medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 – Gold medal for shooter Abhinav Bindra and a Bronze medal each for wrestler Sushil Kumar and Boxer Vijender Singh.
Since the Beijing Olympics, the expectations have been high from the Indian contingent at the current Olympics – India’s largest ever – to win mch more medals.
But the Indian batting maestro who has the record of scoring hundred hundreds doesn’t believe in setting targets. “The entire world is there to win and there is going to be only one winner. It’s not going to be easy, but yes, we have winners in our contingent,” he said.”I would want to let our entire Indian squad know that we all are behind them. Whether you are successful or not, your effort will matter to us and for that you will always be heroes.”
For Tendulkar, it’s the commitment that matters the most.
“It is the commitment that matters. As long as the heart says ‘we have given our best’ we will be proud of you. It is about the hard work they have put in, the sacrifices they have made,” he said.
Tendulkar, who even after more than twenty years of international cricket faces copes with the pressure of scoring a century every time he takes the field as a batsman had a special advice for the Indian athletes of ways to tackle the pressure of a billion-plus population.
He was quoted by Business Recorder as saying, “There is no doubt pressure will be your continuous companion. If you fight that, it gets difficult. You have to just understand your body and mind and embrace it.
“It is easier said than done, but I think, once they enter the playing area, they will all forget about the pressure. They would just want to focus on a good performance.”