After retirement from cricket, Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar may have the job of running sports in India as sports minister if certain sportspersons have their way.
On Tuesday, former Test cricketer Chandu Borde, former runner Milkha Singh and double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar backed the master-blaster as India's future sports minister. "I do not believe Sachin can ever distance himself from sports. It's in his blood. In the future, I wish to see him don the cap of India's Sports Minister and raise our overall sports performance to glorious levels, as he has done for Indian cricket," said Borde.
"Tendulkar should be made the sports minister. He has full knowledge about sports and it can be of immense help in lifting the standard of sports in the country. If he becomes the minister, the standard of sports will definitely go up," Milkha said. He said that Tendulkar is very sincere and can do the job well. "He knows the difficulties which are being faced by the sportspersons. I think he can do this job well. The government should not face any major hurdle in making him the sports minister since he is already a Rajya Sabha member," Singh added.
Meanwhile, Kumar joined the bandwagon of sportspersons who wanted retiring champion batsman to become India's sports minister. "He should become the Sports minister, only then sports will benefit. He treats all the athletes equally. He is our supporter and he can understand. He has given 24 years to the country and worked hard. He knows what sportsmen need and what they should get," Sushil said here at the India Today event Salaam Sachin.
"I consider him to be God... The reason I am asking him to be a sports minister is that he will understand. Our Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Hooda is a tennis player. He has changed the sporting culture of Haryana. It is the only way sports will be elevated," he added. Ace tennis player Sania Mirza said the choice should be entirely left to Tendulkar on what he wants to pursue after retirement. "If Sachin decides to do that, whether it is politics or just administration for grassroots sports. Because, cricket already has that push, but other sports need that. He has inspired people for many years and is the best at what he does. People automatically would listen (to him).
"I think we need to let him chill out for a year and let him relax. We need to let him decide what he wants to do. If he does want to help and he does, so he will. I don't think we should give him that kind of pressure. let him be pressure-free for six months at least," she said. Sushil recollected that he was tongue-tied when he spoke to the Tendulkar after winning a silver in the london Olympics. "When I spoke to Sachin over phone, it was double the happiness. Firstly, I had won back to back medals. I spoke to Sachin after winning silver in london Olympic. For five minutes I kept saying yes sir, yes sir, because I didn't know what to say.
Quote shot
His intensity reaches 200 per cent against Pakistan. I remember when we were playing our world cup semi-final against Pakistan in Mohali, we all were tense. After the toss, paaji (Sachin) had told every player to remain focussed on the job. He said ‘the wicket is good and our record against Pakistan in world cup is perfect'. Paaji told us ‘let's trouble them, they don't perform when put under pressure' — Suresh Raina
After the 1996 semis, I saw 4-5 players crying. When people cry, it's contagious and even I started crying. I looked at Sachin, he wasn't crying. I walked up to him and he told me ‘I cannot cry. Why should we cry. We played the game with conviction and we lost it. It's not the end of the world for us. Crying business, it's something which I don't like'. A strong line what he said — Javagal Srinath
From being a boy (when he made his debut in 1989 against Pakistan), he went on to rule the world of cricket. All the four Tests of that series were played on greenish pitches and he played very well. He's right at the top — the top 3. He has made many runs in and outside sub-continent. His statistics tell us what he has done — Waqar Younis
He has changed the history of cricket. He's the world's greatest player. I felt great when I got him out and I take pride when he didn’t hit me out of the park. He's the hero of the world (of cricket)
— Shoaib Akhtar
If I had a son and he wanted to see how to bat on youtube, I would have shown him the video of Sachin’s batting
— Brian lara
There will be people who will keep the legacy of Indian cricket but it will never be the same without the Sachin. As athletes we have grown up with his presence
— Sania Mirza
What should I suggest to himIJ Although he would have thought...But I would say he should now devote all his time to his family who couldn’t be with him for 25 years when he was playing for the country. He should take care of himself, take rest and be with his family now and he should take something new only after two years — Kapil Dev
I told Sachin that when he crossed 34th 100th, we will have 35 bottles of champange. We have played against each other in single wicket match, I got Sachin out but he didn’t — Sunil Gavaskar