DNA Exclusive: Was happy that people had so many expectations from me, says Sachin Tendulkar

India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar

India legend Sachin Tendulkar, who played cricket for 24-long years, is known as the 'God of Cricket', a tag that perfectly fits with the batting icon considering the number of records he accomplished during his illustrious career. 

The talismanic cricketer, who was last seen in action during the Road Safety World Series, has the most number of international runs, which also include a century of centuries in both the formats (ODIs and Tests) combined. 

During an exclusive interview with Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary, the 48-year-old shared his views on the popular name tag. The former India cricketer also described his thought process and the motivation which helped him maintain his reslience during his cricketing years.     

"I'm not 'god'. It was my dream to play cricket as long as I can for the country and I got the chance to play for 24 years. I'm really thankful for the immense support I recieved," said Tendulkar.  

When asked about him missing the 22-yard-pitch, the batting maestro said: "I just want to say one thing: 'Once a sportsman, always a sportsman'," before adding, "cricket resides in my heart and it will stay there forever." 

Tendukar then went on to discuss the expectations from fans during his playing days and how he managed to live up to them.   

"If you're walking out to bat and people are not expecting any thing from you, then I believe you're in the wrong profession. So I was happy that people had so many expectations from me." 

"And people's expectations only increase because of past experience, so I personally feel, I had achieved something that's why people expected a lot from me." 

"However, there was one thing on my mind as well and that was the expectations from myself and how I meet them."

"Expectations vary from people to people, so it is always important to listen to yourself. I worked on this principle and the goals I would set for myself were not the ones that could be accomplished easily. These goals ensured that I push myself more and become a better player," said Tendulkar.