Mumbai, April 08: Sachin Tendulkar has said that Indian team’s World Cup triumph after 28 years has had a huge impact on his son, Arjun, but he would not force him to become a cricketer.
Talking to reporters at the Wankhede Stadium – the venue of the historic victory – Tendulkar said, “I was inspired by Indian team’s victory in 1983 World Cup. The 2011 victory has made a huge impact on my son Arjun. I will not pressurize him to become a cricketer. He can choose what he wants to do.”
Tendulkar was at the stadium last night to meet his Mumbai Indians team-mates, and partake of the mood on the eve of Indian Premier League’s start in Chennai tomorrow.
Talking about his mother’s reaction when he returned home after the 2011 World Cup victory, Tendulkar said he could see joy in her eyes.
“When I returned home, my mother became very emotional, and there were tears of happiness (in her eyes).”
His mother greeted him with the traditional ‘aarati’.
“When we returned to the hotel, there were huge crowds waving at us. I have never seen anything like this before,” he said, talking about the jubilation after the historic win.
When asked about Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi’s controversial remarks about Indians, Sachin refused to say much.
“No comments. I have no control over what someone has to say,” he said.
Among those Tendulkar met at the stadium was former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, bought for USD 850,000 by the Reliance Industries-owned franchise.
The former Australian cricketer will be playing alongside not only Tendulkar, but also Harbhajan Singh whom he had accused of passing racist comments against him in the acrimonious Sydney Test in 2008.
Tendulkar had supported Harbhajan at the inquiry into the incident and said the feisty off-spinner had not called Symonds “monkey”, but only used a Hindi swear word rhyming with the English term.
–Agencies