Sachin Tendulkar shares words of wisdom with Mumbai players before Karnataka clash

Mumbai: Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday morning held a special ‘Question & Answer’ session with the Mumbai team at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s ground in BKC ahead of the hosts’ big-ticket Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash against Karnataka, which starts on Friday. Among those listening to the cricketing great with rapt attention were Mumbai captain Shardul Thakur, India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, domestic run-machine Sarfaraz Khan, the in-form Siddhesh Lad, and pacer Tushar Deshpande. “We were lucky to be graced by Sachin sir’s presence in the dressing room today. Rather than just a pep talk from him, it was more of a ‘question and answer’ session. All the players and respective coaches asked him a variety of questions. The questions were about approach, preparation, the winning mindset, and handling pressure in tough situations, etc. Sachin sir’s guidance has always proved to be vital for the Mumbai team, and all the boys feel happy that they had some words of wisdom from the very best,” Shardul said. “It was a very nice, interactive session. We asked him a lot of questions. Our physio asked him how he managed to play cricket with so many injuries. Sharing his experience, he said that he didn’t get fazed by injuries and treated them as a part of the game. We also asked him how he dealt with the pressure of expectations,” said Lad, who is currently the fifth-highest run-getter of the Ranji Trophy, having scored 737 runs in seven matches at an average of 92.12, including four centuries on the trot. “It was very motivating that a player like Sachin sir, known as the ‘God of cricket’, came to meet us and shared his experiences with us. We questioned him about how to handle situations, how to handle pressure games, and how to convert fifties into hundreds. He also shared some tips about batting, bowling, and fielding as well. Just listening to how he handled himself in domestic cricket after playing international cricket was motivating. It was a very good 30–40-minute-long session, where he was talking. It was visible that he was keen to guide the players on how to go about things. Everyone asked him a lot of questions and was motivated to do well after the session. Even if we implement 2% of what he told us, we will play well in the Ranji knockouts,” said Mulani. The star-studded Karnataka team will be formidable and will include India’s Test opener KL Rahul and Karun Nair, who is returning to action after splitting the webbing on his left hand during the penultimate Elite Group B game against Madhya Pradesh in Alur and thus missing out on the final game against Punjab in Mohali. The Karnataka team will also include former captain Mayank Agarwal, current captain Devdutt Padikkal, R Smaran, and India pacer Prasidh Krishna. Karnataka had beaten Mumbai by 55 runs (via the VJD method) in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in January. Venkataramana is India A head coach Meanwhile, former Tamil Nadu off-spinner M Venkataramana, who played one Test and one ODI in 1988–89 and took 247 wickets at 29.63 in 75 first-class matches, is the head coach of the India A team for the T20 World Cup warm-up matches. Former Rajasthan and Uttarakhand opener Vineet Saxena has been appointed as India A’s batting coach. The vastly experienced Saxena played 129 first-class matches, scoring 7,637 runs at an average of 36.89, with 17 centuries and 38 fifties.