Sachin took time to accept technology

MUMBAI: For someone who acquired the reputation of a meticulous planner ahead of important tours or series, it came as a surprise to learn that recently-retired Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar resisted the idea of having computers in the dressing room. It was only towards the latter stages of his career that he accepted that technology can help a player analyse his performance and improve.

"I had already played for India for close to 13 years when the computer made its presence in the Indian dressing room in 2002. The players were told it would store all the data about each innings and players could access information whenever they wanted. But I asked what was a computer doing in the dressing room?" Tendulkar recounted at the Aviva Life Insurance's 'what's your big plan' event.

The era that Tendulkar mentioned coincided with the John Wright-Sourav Ganguly era. The first foreign coach and captain combine saw the Indian team get the services of a physio, masseur and trainer to help them raise the performance bar, something that was unheard of previously.

Tendulkar's protests against the latest technology seemed logical at first. "The computer is not going to bat for me. It is not going to bowl for Zaheer Khan or Harbhajan."

However, he realised the importance of technology when told he could access footage and information about earlier matches too. "Over a period of time, I realised that the data stored was accessible within seconds. If I wanted to see how I batted in Australia in 1999, in year 2007, it was available in five seconds. If I wanted to see all the straight drives that I had played and all the deliveries I had left outside off-stump, it was available. It's only then that I accepted it," he added.

He also accepted that the latest technology helped him prepare better. "Things have become different. It has helped us plan better against opposition and analyse their strengths and weaknesses," he said.

As a part of the interaction, Tendulkar also coached kids on the nuances of the game and encouraged them to follow their dreams and work towards realising them. "It is important to have a big plan in life. When I was 10 or 11, I did not know what would happen to me over the next 25 years. But I had a plan," he said.

Shunning short cuts, honesty and embracing toil were ingredients of the Tendulkar package and he wanted the youngsters to imbibe those virtues. "Be true to yourself. Don't try and fool around. It is important that you take life seriously. I played cricket for so many years because I had fun and enjoyed doing what I wanted to do in life. Cricket gave me the kind of satisfaction which cannot be compared with anything else," he said.

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Shweta Pandey

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