Book Excerpt | When A 10-Year-Old Sachin Tendulkar Sneaked Into Wankhede

(The following text is excerpted from Aditya Iyer’s ‘Gully Gully: Travels Around India During The 2023 World Cup’ with permission from Penguin Random House India. Capturing not only what cricket means to India but also what Indians mean to cricket, the book is as much about a fabulous team brimming with legends as it is about the game’s other, oft-forgotten heroes: nameless and faceless Indian fans, emerging from numerous gullies.)

Exactly ten Novembers ago, Tendulkar played his final match for India, in a farewell Test series culminating on this very ground in Wankhede Stadium. Today, he is fifty years of age, yet the aura about him, or rather, the fanaticism around him, hasn’t diminished. It makes for a fascinating sight as fully grown men, men older than Tendulkar and holding high offices in the Mumbai Cricket Association, try and touch his feet as he walks and later press their fingers against their chests to imbibe the blessing. The fanfare and the fawning continue unchecked inside the lounge, which too is draped to the nines. Pawar and Shukla commence the speech-giving; both of them, for some reason, speaking at length about Tendulkar’s decision to turn down the captaincy after India bowed out in the group stage of the 2007 World Cup under Dravid’s stewardship. Next behind the dais is Jay Shah, who also refers to Tendulkar as ‘Bharat Ratna Shri Sachin Tendulkar’ every time he invokes the man’s name.

The cover of Gully Gully: Travels Around India During The 2023 World Cup, by Aditya Iyer
Courtesy: Penguin Random House India

‘Every Score Except 58 And 75’

Shah shares invaluable nuggets such as (and this is a precise translation from Hindi): “Yes, Bharat Ratna Shri Sachin Tendulkar has hit a hundred centuries, but the most important statistic no one knows. I will tell you. Between 0 and 100, he has made every score except 58 and 75.” And, this too: “Let me give you another data: There are 365 days in a year. Apart from 1 May, he has batted on the remaining 364 days of the calendar.”

Now, finally, it’s Tendulkar’s turn. And he receives tremendous applause after he says, “Namashkar. Good evening.” He waits for the cheers to end and then begins again, first thanking all the dignitaries present on the stage. Then he gets into the thick of it.

“It is indeed a special moment for me. I remember when Mr [Ashish] Shelar and Mr [Amol] Kale [treasurer of BCCI and president of MCA, respectively] both called me on behalf of MCA. They said they have this thought of having your statue inside the stadium. I was extremely delighted, to be honest, I did not know how to react. I am truly humbled when I stand here. I go to the ground and there are thousands of images which come to my head; too many incredible memories. It is truly God’s gift to be able to walk on the turf which has given everything to me in life.

‘I Sat In The North Stand’

“I am going to tell a couple of stories which nobody has possibly heard. There are a number of things I have spoken about Wankhede Stadium which you have already heard. But my first visit to Wankhede Stadium was way back in 1983. I was only ten years old. West Indies had come to India, and this was after the 1983 World Cup – that excitement was there when West Indies came here. All my colony friends in Bandra – not ten-year-olds but my brother’s friends, possibly thirty-to-forty-year-olds – they all decided to go for this match. I don’t know how it happened but a ten-year-old called Sachin was also asked to accompany them. So, I went along with them, took a train from Bandra and got off at Churchgate, and I enjoyed the whole game. By the way, I sat in the North Stand. We all know, cricketers know, what North Stand is capable of: when they get behind a team, no opposition can stop India and Mumbai.

“So, I was part of that North Stand gang and made a lot of noise. While I was on my way back home to Bandra, somebody said on the train, and I overheard: “Achcha manage kiya, na? [I managed well, didn’t I?]” What is that “achcha manage kiya“? We were twenty-five of us and we had only twenty-four tickets for the match. Then, I said, “Achcha manage kiya toh kya kiya? [What did you manage well?]” Woh bola, “Sachin ko chhupa ke leke aana pada [He said he had to hide Sachin and take him inside].”‘ 

How Wankhede Was Different From Shivaji Park, Cross Maidan

Those in the front section of the audience, mainly MCA administrators and the like, are beside themselves with joy. They rain laughter and heavy applause on Tendulkar, so he smiles and continues.

Eventually, he can be heard again. “So, sometimes, being vertically challenged can also be an advantage. I, of course, got a chance to play at Wankhede Stadium after that, but before, I played whatever cricket I had played till then at Shivaji Park, Cross Maidan, Azad Maidan; lot of noise, crowd, thousands of guys playing around us. Then we come to Wankhede Stadium and suddenly it’s quiet, lush green; that’s when I figured out ki here at Wankhede Stadium, there are many more gaps visible when you are batting. And there are just nine fielders on the field. Azad Maidan pe pata nahi lagta hai ki fielder iss match ka hai ya uss match ka hai [At Azad Maidan it is not easy to figure out if the fielder belongs to this match or another match].”

When Gavaskar Invited Sachin In

Tendulkar is easily the most gifted cricketer of all time. But those gifts don’t necessarily spill over to the field of storytelling, what with him often landing the punchline long before he has constructed the narrative around it. But there are stand-up comics who would kill to have the response he’s now being showered with, as men and women fall over themselves in laughter. He strides on with confidence.

“So, yahaan pe pehli baar waisa realize hua ki there are only nine fielders on the ground, gaps hai, maar sakte ho neeche se [It was only here that I realized that there are gaps in the field and I can find them along the ground too] . . . I was selected to be a ball-boy in the 1987 World Cup, and I was sitting right here in front of the dressing room when a gentleman called Mr Sunil Gavaskar invited me inside the dressing room. I can never forget that. He was sitting in the corner and he said, “Ye, aat ye, tula dressing room daakhavto [You, come here, I’ll show you the dressing room].” So, I saw the dressing room, met a few players. I was fourteen then, if I am not mistaken. For a fourteen-year-old to actually be invited by his hero to the dressing room was a big deal.

“After that, the very next year, I played for Mumbai. Ranji Trophy. But unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to play with Sunil Gavaskar. But I remember, there was only one seat available in that dressing room because that [Mumbai] team was a mega team, all established players. I think, if I am not mistaken, there were seven or eight India players in the playing eleven. So, I walked to the dressing room, and I am looking for a spot to sit. The far left-hand seat was vacant, and that’s where I go and place my kit bag. Then I realize that it was SMG’s [Sunil Manohar Gavaskar] seat, you know everyone said ki ‘Arre, ithe Gavaskarchi seat aahe, ithey basaaycha [This is Gavaskar’s seat, sit here].’ So, I was happy, thrilled, and I go out to bat in my debut match, and I score a hundred. Not surprising because the seat was not used to being occupied in the dressing room [whenever Gavaskar was around]; the crease was used to being occupied so I had no choice but to follow in my hero’s footsteps.’

A resounding wave of applause.

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