Sachin Tendulkar lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after the 2011 World Cup win was recently voted the Laureus best sporting moment of the last two decades. In this 2014 interview, the cricket great looks back at his career and also talks about taking electricity to India’s remote villages.
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00:00What is it like living when a billion people think you're a god?
00:04No, I'm no god. I'm Sachin. I'm Sachin Tendulkar and it feels comfortable to be Sachin.
00:11It's nice that people love me, they like me and they're expressive.
00:19That's an understatement, isn't it? I mean, people do extraordinary things around you.
00:24You know, very extreme behaviour has surrounded you for decades.
00:28That must be a bizarre amount of pressure to live under.
00:31I've enjoyed all that, to be honest, and I wanted people to expect something from me
00:37and expectations from people allowed me to push myself harder.
00:44How do you balance basically being an individual athlete with actually playing for India?
00:52See, cricket, though people say that it's a team sport, but there are constantly two individuals competing against each other.
01:01There is always one bowler and one batsman at a time.
01:05So, you know, if the individuals are able to contribute something significant towards the team's cause,
01:14then that becomes a satisfying factor where at the end of the day's play,
01:19you sit back in the dressing room and say that I've been able to contribute something significantly
01:24and because of my contribution, the team has won today. It's a terrific feeling.
01:29Who's the best bowler you've faced?
01:32There have been so many top bowlers that I've faced from 1989 to 2013.
01:39It's difficult to pick one, but there's one bowler I felt uncomfortable playing against was Hansi Kronje.
01:47I didn't feel comfortable playing him. He's gotten me out a number of occasions.
01:54And I thought, you know, at times I would tell the non-striker that, you know, I'm happy facing the other strike bowler,
02:02but you take care of Hansi. I don't feel comfortable. Let's rotate strike.
02:06You're now a politician. You've been...
02:08No, I'm not.
02:09Well, you've been nominated.
02:11I'm always a sportsman. I'm a nominated Rajasthani bowler.
02:14You have a place in India's upper house. It's tremendous responsibility.
02:18It was a nomination. So there is a lot of difference between elected and nominated.
02:25I feel I can contribute from a sporting side.
02:33And there are a couple of interesting thoughts, which I feel are extremely important.
02:41One, which I've already started two years ago, is lighting up villages where there is no electricity.
02:48400 million Indians without electricity.
02:51So we've started lighting up villages. And that's my vision.
02:57I mean, I want to light up as many villages as possible so that there is no darkness in the house after sunset.
03:03It's really unfortunate that people have to go through that. And that's one thing I'd like to change.
03:10I wonder for you as a sportsman, as a role model, as a male role model, what your thoughts are on Indian men and their approach towards women.
03:23If I'm not mistaken, I've got to be really honest here and make a blunt statement that every woman in the house is the backbone of any family.
03:37And you've got to respect that. And we'll continue to do so.
03:41And I think this is one message which needs to spread across everywhere that you've got to respect women.
03:49It's as simple as that.