Dubai: Ajit Tendulkar, who played a significant role in his younger brother Sachin Tendulkar becoming one of the world’s legendary cricketers, has an eye for talent. As soon as Ajit saw the spark in his brother, he not only took him to Ramakant Achrekar, one of the renowned coaches in Mumbai but also egged him to work hard for success. Though a fine cricketer himself, he spend most of his time taking his brother for practice and matches and helped gift the greatest batsman of the era to the world.
Answering to a query from Gulf News on how he will go about spotting talent in UAE, Ajit said: “We will have a look at the boys and then provide training according to their talents. In fact coaches will be decided based on the talent in the player.”
Ajit always believed that coaching should be based on the qualities in a player as he did with Sachin who was first refused to be trained by Achrekar being very young. It was Ajit who convinced Achrekar to watch his brother’s batting skills and the rest is history.
Ajit was more than a brother to Sachin. He was his mentor, guide, friend and teacher but always preferred to remain in the background. Talking about Sachin’s early days and the spark he saw in his brother, Ajit said: “It was always there (in Sachin). If you ask me what talent is, then the answer could be different. The basic thing is that he had the ability; right from the time he played with tennis and rubber balls in the society.”
Sachin could fully concentrate on his cricket mainly due to Ajit who as manager looked after his brother’s assignments, financial deals and travel plans. In fact, Tendulkar in his retirement had acknowledged Ajit’s contribution saying: “There are so many things that he did for me which I am now finding out. He gave me my first bat and the helmet I wore on my debut tour to Pakistan.”.
