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'Even happened till my last Test': Sachin Tendulkar opens up on struggles with sleep during playing days
Speaking in an interview with the Indian Express, Sachin revealed that he suffered with sleeplessness for years whenever he used to get ready for a match.
There are only a few names bigger or at par in cricket than Sachin Tendulkar. The India batting legend created numerous records during his career, most of them which are still unbeaten. He finished his career as the highest run-getter in both ODIs and Tests, a record he stills holds to date.
Tendulkar also is the only player in history to score 100 international centuries. He is often regarded as one of the best players of all-time. But even the best of players feel the pressure that comes with representing the country in a sporting event, and in a recent interview, the 'Master Blaster' revealed that he was no different.
Speaking in an interview with the Indian Express, Sachin revealed that he suffered from sleeplessness for years whenever he used to get ready for a match.
"If you care about something, there will certainly be some restlessness. That’s only because I cared about my cricket and I wanted to do well every time I walked out," Tendulkar said.
"I would say, for the first 12 years of my career, I couldn’t sleep properly on the eve of the game. I would constantly think about how I will face the bowlers. What will they bowl, what options do I have? I would keep thinking and would fight my sleep."
Tendulkar went on to reveal he started accepting how his body functions, and coming to terms with it helped him in dealing with the process.
"Later, I could deal with it. I started accepting; this is how my body and mind is getting geared up for the game. It is ok, I don’t need to fight this feeling, I embraced that. I said ‘it’s okay even if I am awake at 12:30 or 1:00 at night watching TV, listening to music, or whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. The reason I am like this is because I am getting ready for the game.
"And it’s okay as it is only part of my preparation.’ The acceptance was important. The more I started to understand myself, things became okay. (Laughs) I will not say okay completely, but I knew this was normal. I made peace with it," Tendulkar said.
On being asked "Did it happen all throughout the career, like fighting sleep before the game?", Tendulkar replied: "Yes, it happened all through my career and post dismissals, I used to discuss it with my brother. And that even happened till my last Test.
"A few habits continued all the way. After I was dismissed in my last Test, we had a discussion in the evening. After that I was thinking, I don’t know why we discussed it because if we bowl well, we might not be batting a second time," he signed off.
