Guess How Sachin Tendulkar Improved The Swing Of His Bat? He Was 'Coached' By A Waiter!

Sachin Tendulkar has broken almost every batting record on the planet. In India he is revered as a God and as far as cricket is concerned, he is one.

BCCI

But at the end of the day, the man is human too and like all humans, he has his flaws, makes mistakes and can also learn from experiences in life.

One hallmark of Sachin's character has been his simplicity and humility. His ego has never come in the way of trying something new and that is why he has always kept an open mind.

So when a waiter at a restaurant in Chennai offered him some advice on how to improve his bat swing, the Master Blaster listened, even though it was unusual.

AFP

¡°If you have an open mind, you can develop so many things. In Chennai it was a waiter who came up to me and said ¡®if you don¡¯t mind and don¡¯t get offended I want to tell you something.¡¯ I said ¡®go ahead.¡¯ He said my elbow guard restricts my bat swing. And he was 100 per cent right,¡± he said.

The legend took his advice and the result paid dividends.

¡°I knew I was feeling uncomfortable but I never thought of doing it myself. A few years down the line I got hit a couple of times on my elbow guard and it hurt. That¡¯s when I realised that the padding on my elbow guard is inadequate.¡±

AFP

¡°I instantly redesigned my elbow guard. I needed to re-open it and work on it, get the fibre and cushion on either side to absorb the impact. In our country everyone from panwala to CEOs will give you advice. But one should still be open about ideas.¡±

So we can certainly be thankful to this waiter for helping Sachin improve his game. One is also glad that Sachin had the time to listen to him and actually follow the 'coaching' tip for it only made him a better player in the years to come.