I am not god of cricket: Sachin Tendulkar

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He might be revered by billions of fans but Sachin Tendulkar insists he is “not god of cricket” as many would like to call him as he does “make mistakes” unlike the almighty.

“I am not God of cricket. I make mistakes, God doesn’t,” Tendulkar said at a promotional event here yesterday. The 39-year-old cricketer, who has almost all the batting records that are there to be taken under his belt, said growing up he wanted to be a combination of Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards.

“I wanted to be like Sunil Gavaskar as a kid. When I grew up and started watching players from outside, someone who attracted me was Vivian Richards. Everything that he did was effortless. I always thought I should be a combination of these two,” Tendulkar said, while answering questions from children.

The diminutive Mumbaikar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket, recalled the agonising wait he endured before getting to his 100th international hundred last year during the Asia Cup.

“When I got to my 100th international century, I was not jumping or celebrating. My first question to God was why did it take so long? What did I do wrong? With a billion plus people waiting for this, it shouldn’t have taken so long,” he said.

“Where did I fall short? I used to practice hard, maybe harder. I got close to getting a hundred in the semifinal against Pakistan (in the 2011 World Cup) but at that stage, everybody’s focus was on the World Cup. After that it was a big disappointment. But such is life, it is always better late then never,” he said.