How a Ramakant Achrekar slap shaped Sachin Tendulkar’s career

There were cricket coaches and then there was a Ramakant Achrekar, whose contribution was way more than gifting India a ‘kohinoor’ called Sachin Tendulkar.

Achrekar, who passed away in Mumbai at the age of 87 on Wednesday, belonged to that near extinct tribe of cricket coaches, who gave quintessential talented middle-class boys hope and imparted knowledge that they carried a lifetime.

The story of Achrekar putting a one rupee coin over stumps and challenging Tendulkar not to get bowled in order to earn the coin is a part of cricketing folklore.

Also read: Tendulkar honours boyhood coach Ramakant Achrekar

However, there is also an instance when Tendulkar got a “tight slap” for missing a match in order to watch the senior school team play a final match.

“After finishing school, I used to hurry to my aunt’s place for lunch and by that time, sir used to organise some matches for me. He used to tell the opposition teams, that I would be batting at No. 4”, Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI.

“On one such day, instead of playing in the match, I along with a friend, went to the Wankhede stadium to watch the Shardashram English-medium boys take on the Shardashram Marathi-medium boys in the Harris Shield final and cheer our team.

Also read: Ramakant Achrekar cremated, tearful Sachin Tendulkar in attendance

“There, we spotted sir and went to greet him. He knew that I had missed the match, but still asked me how did I perform in it. I told him that, I thought that I would skip the match in order to cheer for our team. I got a late-cut (tight slap) on my face as well. The tiffin box in my hand flew and all its contents spread across,” he said.

“At that time, sir told me ‘You don’t have to be here to cheer for others. Play in such a way that others cheer for you’. 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,” he concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)