Batting was passion but fielding was a torture, reveals a candid Sachin Tendulkar

New Delhi: The man who has scored more than 30,000 runs in cricket worldwide, Sachin Tendulakr hardly needs to reveal how many records he has set in his 24-year-long career.

Even the thought of bowling to the Master Blaster intimidated some bowlers, but there was hardly anything in cricket Sachin himself was scared off. Well was he..?

Tendulkar was quoted saying by The Hindustan Times, “I wasn’t physically unfit, but fielding was sort of torturing for me,” at an interaction for the New Delhi marathon. Tendulkar, who was the brand ambassador for the event, emphasized on the importance of running between the wickets.

Numbers, however, show that Little Master is India’s second-most successful fielder in ODIs with 115 catches and third-most in Tests with 140. It can be said that he even mastered the thing that tortured him the most. (READ: Sachin Tendulkar vs Virender Sehwag: Twitter fun between the two legends enters 2nd innings)

“The art of running between the wickets was like a shuttle relay. The skill to accelerate, decelerate and quickly take a turn for another run was accomplished due to better physical fitness.”

Tendulkar said that even in a team sport like cricket, individual training is must for sucess.

“There is more awareness today with different training methods. The Indian team is one of the best in the world. Without good physical fitness it would be difficult to secure place in the team. Access to better infrastructure and playing facilities has enabled the players to improve themselves,” Sachin added.

“I always learned to smile in the face of adversity,” Tendulkar said, adding that he made the opponenets aware of his weakness.

Recalling an incident on the field, Tendulkar said once a bouncer hit him in the ribcage.

“I didn’t reveal to the bowler that I was hurt. The bowler looked menacing and stared at me. I too looked back straight back into his eyes. Never gave up.”

Tendulkar revealed about the extent of injury, “He had fractured my ribs. There was a clot, and I discovered that three months later during a routine medical check.”