Published 18:05 IST, May 15th 2020
Sachin Tendulkar discloses reason behind being without bat sponsor in 1996 World Cup
Former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar reveals secret behind him snubbing a bat sponsor during the 1996 World Cup, where he emerged as the leading run-getter.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever graced the game. The right-handed batsman holds a wide range of batting records in both Tests and ODIs. One of Sachin Tendulkar records includes him leading the all-time run-scoring charts in World Cup history with 2,278 runs in 44 innings. While the iconic cricketer is highly popular and owns numerous endorsement and advertisement deals, he once revealed why he refused a particular contract during the 1996 Cricket World Cup.
Throwback to Sachin Tendulkar’s story behind snubbing bat sponsor in 1996
In an interview with Time Magazine in 2012, Sachin Tendulkar revealed the secret behind why he refused to sign a contract with a company to put a logo on his bat. He said that while a company approached him to become his bat sponsor during the 1996 World Cup, he refused to sign the deal because he had already played the first two matches of the tournament without any sticker on his bat. Sachin Tendulkar further stated that he got used to the way he looked by then and did he not wanted to make any compromise by going for extra revenues.
Tendulkar claimed that the feel of the bat that he picked during India's training sessions was perfect and nothing could sway him from scoring runs. Incidentally, a year before the World Cup, Tendulkar signed a record commercial management deal worth ₹100 crore with Mark Mascarenhas' WorldTel in 1995.
Sachin Tendulkar records: Sachin Tendulkar in 1996 World Cup
Sachin Tendulkar went on to play the entire tournament without a bat sponsor. He scored 523 runs across six matches at an average of 87.16. He was instrumental in guiding India to the semi-finals, where they eventually lost to Sri Lanka.
Sachin Tendulkar records and Sachin Tendulkar centuries
Sachin Tendulkar has scored 34,357 international runs across 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I to lead all-time run-aggregators chart. He was India’s leading run-scorer in their victorious 2011 World Cup campaign. With 100 international centuries, the Mumbai-based batsman is 29 centuries ahead of second-placed Ricky Ponting (71) to lead the list of all-time century-makers in the game.
Updated 18:05 IST, May 15th 2020
