Former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday paid homage to his late coach Ramakant Achrekar on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. Tendulkar shared a throwback picture on Twitter in which he is receiving instructions from his coach and he captioned the post as, “Teachers impart not just education but also values. Achrekar Sir taught me to play straight – on the field and in life. I shall always remain grateful to him for his immeasurable contribution in my life. His lessons continue to guide me today. #TeachersDay” The stalwart coach had passed away at the age of 87 in January this year. Upon Achrekar’s death, Tendulkar had said that his childhood coach had built the foundation of the master blaster’s cricketing career. “Cricket in heaven will be enriched with the presence of Achrekar Sir. Like many of his students, I learnt my ABCD of cricket under Sir’s guidance. His contribution to my life cannot be captured in words. He built the foundation that I stand on,” Tendulkar had said. “Last month, I met Sir along with some of his students and spent some time together. We shared a laugh as we remembered the old times. Achrekar Sir taught us the virtues of playing straight and living straight. Thank you for making us a part of your life and enriching us with your coaching manual. Well played Sir and May you coach more wherever you are,” he had added. Earlier this year, Tendulkar became the sixth Indian to get inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. The 46-year-old made his debut for India at the age of 16 and immediately became country’s favourite cricketer. He aggregated 34,357 runs across formats, which is more than 6,000 runs ahead of the second-placed former Sri Lanka cricketer Kumar Sangakkara. Regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Tendulkar holds the record of being the highest run-scorer of all time in the international cricket, having notched up 18,426 runs in ODI and 15,921 runs in Test matches. At the age of 37, Tendulkar played his final World Cup that turned out to be a fruitful campaign for India. The Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets at home in the 2011 edition which made Tendulkar a member of the World Cup-winning team and he ended up becoming India’s leading run-scorer and second overall at the tournament. He retired from the 50-over format in 2012. He scored his hundredth century in his second last match. The master blaster last featured in Test against West Indies at home in November 2013, which was his 200th match. Since his retirement, Tendulkar has made appearances at ICC events as an ambassador of various tournaments including the 2015 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. The master blaster has been serving as a mentor to the Mumbai Indians that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
