Sachin Tendulkar discloses reason behind being without bat sponsor in 1996 World Cup

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.

Also Read | Team MRF Tyres To Take Part In European Rally MRF Championship

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.

Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar Centuries and Sachin Tendulkar Records: Cricketer Completes Silver Jubilee Of Reaching 3000 ODI Runs On Apr 9; Watch Video

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.

Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar Centuries and Sachin Tendulkar Records Throwback: Cricketer Scores His Record 100th International Ton, On This Day In 2012

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.

Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar Centuries and Sachin Tendulkar Records Cricketer Scores His 10,000th ODI Run On Mar 31, 2001 Against Australia; Watch Video

Also Read | Sachin Tendulkar Centuries and Sachin Tendulkar Records: Cricketer Completes Silver Jubilee Of Reaching 3000 ODI Runs On Apr 9; Watch Video