"I used to receive letters written in blood. But not any more. It feels strange when a fan comes and touches your feet and says you are God. I don’t feel comfortable with it, but it is the way they feel about you. That happened again just a couple of weeks ago actually," said Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
"That’s a big question. I don’t know. I will definitely be involved with the game. When I retire, that is when the doors to other opportunities will open. As of now, other than just promoting various products, I haven’t opened the door to anything else. Maybe I’ll start a business," he said.
I don’t know when that would be yet, but that will be the time I will focus my energy in different directions. Right now it’s only focussed in one direction — that is cricket," Tendulkar said.
"criticism is hardly ever constructive. I try and stay away from newspapers when I am playing. You get to read so many things that are not constructive, but somehow the guy who is writing it all seems to think that it’s constructive."
Tendulkar said
"There’s one time that I remember clearly. We were in Australia playing some exhibition games, it was around 1994. I was out with two other players and when we got back to the hotel, the rest of the team had already left for the airport. They had packed my bags and gone and there were no mobiles or anything. We had no way of reaching them," he recalled.
"We were to fly from Sydney to Melbourne — we had no tickets, no passports, nothing. I got to the counter at the airport and explained the situation. The guy at the counter recognised me and he gave us three boarding passes from Sydney to Melbourne…Without passports, without tickets. I felt that I was truly special," he said.
"On December 31 last year. I spent time with my family in Mussoorie about 7,000 feet above sea level looking at the snow-capped mountains. It was freezing and we went for a long walk. I was a fantastic feeling. That was the day when I didn’t watch sports at all."
Tendulkar said, "I was truly proud of our performance during the Chennai Test. We won against England on the last day."
"I am always doing that. A while ago, we had gone to a restaurant and we actually fooled Yuvraj Singh. We put wasabi on a toast and told him it was a delicious spread that he must try. He almost ate it. We stopped him at the last minute.
"Probably the last innings I batted in Mohali. I felt that I shouldn’t have played that shot. I got out on it. (Smiles) That’s what I feel every time I get out," he quipped.