Whenever cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has a big match coming up, there are two scenes that gets played out, almost like a routine, at the Tendulkar household — a tense Sachin the night before the match, and a tense wife Anjali on the day of the match.
“He (Sachin) still gets tense before every match after so many years, he won’t eat properly, and gets up early in the morning on the day of the match. I think he performs best that way. It is a kind of a process, so I never try to console or relax him before a match,” says the reclusive Anjali Tendulkar, in an exclusive tete-a-tete with DNA.
When the whole nation is agog as Sachin enters the crease, Anjali says that she’s busy switching off her cell phone. “When Sachin is batting, I just switch off entirely. There are no phone calls for me or leaving the television set. I even try not to take food breaks or water breaks as long as possible,” adds Anjali. But why before the television set? Isn’t she supposed to be in the stadium? “I prefer not to watch him live. Television is better,” she says, indicating the huge pressure that builds up inside her head.
Anjali admits that Sachin is very particular about his practice that he think twice about stepping out for it even on a hot Mumbai afternoon. “When I ask him as to why he’s going for practice in the heat, he says, ‘I have a match to play and I need to practice at this time’.”
Anjali reveals that Sachin is foodie too, but indulges in it once in a while. Anjali admits candidly that she’s not a great cook. “He is a foodie. But I’m not that great a cook like his mom, my mom and our cook. They are allfabulous, so there’s no complains about that. He indulges himself once in a while (on food), but always makes sure to work out the next day,” she adds.
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