Every cricket lover knows the heights Sachin Tendulkar reached in his cricketing career, how hard he worked to earn the legendary status but not many know of the sacrifices his wife Anjali made in order to help Sachin focus on the game while she took care of the family in his absence.
Sachin and Anjali tied the knot in 1995, with former starting to establish himself as a superstar in the Indian team having made debut 6 years ago. The couple then had two children – Sara and Arjun – and the questions over how to raise a family amid Tendulkar’s cricketing tours started to loom.
Speaking to India Today, Sachin revealed that it was his wife Anjali who decided to bury her ambitions for the welfare of the family. Despite being a gold medal-winning doctor herself, Anjali put family before career and her support enabled Sachin to travel across the world without any worry in his head.
“I was doing well for India and Anjali stood first in her exam. You know she is a gold medallist doctor so… her career was also flourishing and she was gonna reach a different level but she decided to sacrifice her career so that we could have a family,” Tendulkar revealed.
“She knew that I had to travel and then who’s gonna look after Sara and Arjun? So she graciously decided to take that decision. I don’t think things would have been the same without her contribution and her graciousness. I don’t think I would have been sitting here, no chance,” he added.
Although Arjun chose to become a cricketer, Sachin revealed that he never enforced the idea into his son’s head. Just like his own father raised him – by giving him freedom – the Master Blaster also supporter his son in whichever way he wanted to shape his life and career.
“As a father, I want to do exactly what my father did for me. He gave me the freedom to be what I wanted to be in life. It was never: ‘I’m a writer and you need to follow my footsteps’. So for Arjun also it was the same thing.
“I am a cricketer doesn’t mean you have to play cricket. He earlier enjoyed playing football, chess and cricket started on its own, I didn’t force him into it.
