If I am grateful to anyone, then it has to be Sachin paaji, says Sardar Singh

09/16/2018

Sardar Singh has revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar's advice that helped him lift his spirits and kept the hockey player inside him alive. He also mentioned that Tendulkar's advice helped him to get over the self-doubt that had come about following his exclusion from the 2018 CWG squad.

Sardar Singh was excluded from the Indian hockey squad because of his poor performance at the Azlan Shah Cup and with former coach Sjoerd Marijne claiming that he wanted to build a younger squad. The former skipper's speed and consistency had dropped considerably over time and the sudden exclusion resulted in Sardar having self-doubts about his abilities which in turn impacted his confidence levels. Sardar has now revealed that he had reached out to Sachin Tendulkar for advice about how to cope up with everything going on in his mind.

"If I am grateful to anyone, then it has to be Sachin paaji. He had always been my icon sportsperson, so I took advice from him. He has been extremely supportive in the last three-four months. At that time (after the CWG exclusion), I spoke to Sachin. I told him I was not doing well on the field and what all people were talking about me," Sardar revealed, reported PTI.

"I asked him how to cope with such a situation. I even asked him how he motivated himself when he was out for zero. He always had so much time for me. For 10 to 15 minutes, he would explain the situation. He told me how he would watch his old batting videos and motivate and prepare himself for the next match. He asked me to do the same."

Sardar also mentioned Tendulkar was always patient and listened to each and everything that he said. He also gave really effective solutions on how to go through such situations and that is what made the difference. Sardar eventually came back into the team after Harendra Singh took charge of the team and was instrumental in the team's second place finish in the Champions Trophy.

“The best part about him was that he would never refuse to talk to me. He would always answer my calls and he would never disconnect. He was such a big support for me,” he quoted.

However, after the win in the bronze medal match against Pakistan in the Asian Games, Sardar decided it was the right time to call it a day and let the next generation get more opportunities.

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