There’s no measure to how much Sachin Tendulkar has impacted me, reveals Virat Kohli
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Virat Kohli has expressed his gratitude towards Sachin Tendulkar by recounting the happiness he derived from watching him bat and how he wanted to emulate the man when he was younger. He went on to discuss Sachin’s farewell Test in 2013 and how he developed his knack of chasing down big scores.
Virat Kohli might be the best cricketer in the world at the moment, but before his ascension to the peak came the little maestro who inspired him to be what he is today. When it comes to revolutionizing the sport, however, a few can deny the impact Sachin Tendulkar had considering the aesthetic way in which he batted.
“What he did from the pure skill point of view, just the way he was able to bat, was so much more different to anyone else and that just fascinated me. I was like man, this is so much more different and it was so captivating you just couldn't take your eyes off when he was batting. I used to go to these shops and get my packet of chips and my nibbles and just sit in front of the TV to watch him bat, and it was just pure joy,” Virat Kohli reminisced in an interview with renowned sports anchor, Graham Bensinger.
The Indian skipper has had his part to play in changing India’s outlook towards the game too, for there is rarely any player in history who was as prolific as he is in coming up trumps in important situations. A majority of his centuries have come in the second innings as a part of chasing down totals, something India has seemed to lack ever since it started playing.
“I used to tell people, I want to be like Sachin. The one thing I remember was when I used to watch the Indian team play, whenever the Indian team was chasing and they faltered, I promise you I used to go to sleep thinking, if I was in the Indian shirt, I used to dream of it, and I was in that situation, I could have done it. And it's happened so many times in my career till now, that I've been involved in a chase and I finished the game off and I don't know whether it was that conviction that formed in my head when I was that young. When I'm in that situation now, everything just takes over so that's the power of the mind,” Kohli stated.
Tendulkar bid adieu to the game at home in 2013 in a Test against West Indies and Kohli famously had offered him his dad’s sacred thread. Considering Kohli’s rise was born out of the desire to fulfil his dad’s dream and he has often dedicated everything he has achieved to him, the gesture held a very special meaning.
“We knew that this is his farewell series, but till the time we got to Mumbai, the last test of the series, last day off that game, is the time that it hit everyone that Sachin Tendulkar was not gonna play for India ever again. Imagine for 25 years there's one name that's been a constant in the Indian cricket team and now he's not gonna be there. All of us felt hollow and empty because there was no one in the team that didn't look up to him.
"So that was a very emotional thing for us to process, but his emotion obviously was of a different level at that stage. In front of his people going out like that, the most amazing farewell I have ever seen. Then I remember in the change room, I just felt like paying respect to him. I mean I thought there's nothing I could ever give him to make him understand what impact he's had on me, how he's inspired me.
"So I was like my father gave this to me and I think I couldn't give you anything more valuable, and I just want you to know how much you've inspired me and what you mean to all of us. This is my little gift,” recalled Kohli.
Sachin Tendulkar was quick to recognize what it means to the young man as well as to himself and Kohli states his reaction made the fact pretty evident.
“I think he understood what he's done for the young cricketers growing up in this country, and I think it was a pure . If someone came up to me tomorrow and said that I've impacted their life in a certain manner, I would obviously get very emotional. I know where I come from and obviously he knows his whole life story and his journey.
"You could never imagine as a child that one day, someone's going to come and tell you you've impacted my life in such a massive way. I don't think there's anything bigger than having a positive impact on another human being, apart from all your achievement, apart from what you do in terms of numbers and all that stuff,” the 30-year-old signed off.
