Sachin Tendulkar had a billion people praying for his good health when he was representing India in cricket. Perhaps it were their prayers and blessings which saved the master blaster from drowning when he accidently found himself in deep sea water during a tour of West Indies.
This shocking incident was narrated by the Indian legend during a special segment of Star Sports' ongoing coverage of the ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup. In it, the Master Blaster took questions from some other members of Star Sports' expert panel.
One of the questioners was another batting legend from the same era as Sachin, Brian Lara. The former West Indies captain said that while he is aware of Tendulkar having gone into sea water in West Indies, he would like to know if the Master Blaster ever ventured into the sea water of Australia. Lara said he hadn't due to fear of sharks but would love to know if his Indian counterpart did.
Sachin responded by informing everyone that he too is scared of sharks and hasn't went into the sea off the beaches of Australia. But then, the former India captain revealed that twice in West Indies, he almost drowned when visiting a beach and trying to enjoy the sea. Tendulkar narrated one of those incidents as well.
It happened in Barbados when, according to the great man's recollection, his teammates were playing volleyball at the beach and he decided to join them. But then, the master batsman decided to test the sea and asked his teammates to come along with him, on surf boards, to swim against the tide.
"I said, let's stop this volleyball and get these surf boards. So, I arranged surf boards. I said let's go against the waves, and this is someone who doesn't know how to swim properly. And slowly, slowly, the sea was inviting me inwards and I realised that all my colleagues are 15-20 feet away from me. And I almost drowned. There were a couple of guys who brought me out after that. So, I was lucky," he related.
Accepting that he is not a good swimmer, the leading run scorer in international cricket told Lara that if he, the Prince of Trinidad, who grew up among the beautiful beaches of his native country, didn't feel confident enough to test the sea of Australia's coast, how could a bad swimmer like him.
Well, let's hope Sachin doesn't such risks again.
