I won’t give up cricket to enter politics,says Sachin

To a large,cheering crowd of mainly students and IT professionals,Tendulkar said it was “the biggest honour to be nominated to Rajya Sabha”.

“The honour has come from the President of the country… The likes of Lata Mangeshkar and Prithviraj Kapoor have graced the House. It is an honour for me to follow in their footsteps,” he said.

Tendulkar said he had played cricket for over 22 years,and believed that the nomination to Parliament was the result of what he had achieved on the field. “This is the appreciation of a sportsman,not of a politician,” he said,adding,“I will contribute my expertise in cricket in the House”.

Tendulkar’s Rajya Sabha nomination had been criticised by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray as the Congress’s “Dirty Picture”. “It is Congress’s dirtiest play… the real Dirty Picture is this,” Thackeray had said. In an editorial,Sena mouthpiece Saamna said,“Crores of Sachin’s fans would have liked to call him ‘Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar’. Alas,he will now only be ‘Sachin Tendulkar,MP’.”

Tendulkar today repeated that being part of the World Cup winning Indian side last year was his finest cricketing moment. “Winning the World Cup was the biggest achievement on the cricket field,not the hundredth hundred,” he said. The century of international centuries had come “along the way”,he said,but winning the World Cup was the fulfilment of a 22-year-old dream.

Tendulkar advised youngsters to “live” in the present. “When I am batting,I am thinking about that particular moment. There is a split second to make a decision. At that particular moment,I do not think about the previous match or matches where I might have faltered. It is important to live in the present… the pressure will disappear on its own.”

He also advised youngsters to never forget the “sweat and toil” of their parents in bringing them up. “I don’t think there is anybody who has disrespect for his or her parents,” he said.

Tendulkar also had a word of gratitude for his wife Anjali. It was important to get an ideal partner in life,he said,and “I thank the almighty for giving me a wife like Anjali.”

At the function,organised by Amit Enterprises at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch,Mayor Vaishali Bankar felicitated Tendulkar on behalf of the citizens of Pune. NCP Lok Sabha member from Baramati Supriya Sule and NCP Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan were among those present at the function,which was anchored by cricket journalist Sunandan Lele.