Question

Narrate in your own words the hardships underwent by Sachin to become a great cricketer.

Answer 1

Ajit, one day, took his brother Sachin to the Achrekar Sir’s camp to get trained. Sachin was nervous and failed miserably in front of him. Ajit asked the coach to give him another chance and observe him unawares. This time, Sir agreed to let him join the camp. The camp involved a session every morning and evening at Shivaji Park. He would practice between 7.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. in the morning. Then he would come back in the afternoon and practice till late evening. The schedule was rigorous and he would be exhausted by the end of the day. Travelling to Shivaji Park took forty minutes from his house in Bandra and he had to catch an early morning bus to make it on time.

As a child, he had only one set of cricket clothes and the routine was to wash them as soon as he returned to wear it for the next session. By the middle of the summer camp, Sir had started taking an active interest in his batting and at the end of the two months, informed Ajit that he had the potential to be a good cricketer if he practiced all year round. In his first year at Shardashram, he played fifty-five practice matches during the summer break of sixty days. His summer sessions used to start at 7.30 am and end at 4.30 pm.

His evening session would start at 5 pm after a thirty-minute break. Between 5 pm and 7 pm, he would have five more net sessions. Towards the last 15 minutes, every bowler in the camp would come and bowl to him, with some sixty to seventy boys fielding. At the end of it all., Sir would tell him to run two full circuits of Shivaji Park with his pads and gloves on. That was the last part of his training and he would be completely exhausted by the end of it all. It was a routine he would repeat right through his summer holidays.