Sachin pulls the crowd at the race track

The cricket question was about the dream run Virat Kohli’s team has had in Tests and how it would compare with the previous marches by teams under Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni. 

“Each era is different and there were similar unbeaten runs in the past. It is difficult to say whether this is an invincible team,” he said. 

“The important thing is to have all-rounders: batsmen who can bowl, bowlers who will go out and make runs or wicket-keepers (maybe two of them), besides being good in their trade, who could also contribute to the batting,” said Tendulkar, indicating the current team has the essential ingredients for modern day success. 

On his racing experience, he said he always loved cars and the few laps at the MMRT track here bettered his driving skills. “I enjoyed my drive,” he said. He also had a word of praise for Mick Schumacher’s son, who drove in the MRF series. “He is my son’s age and it is good to see youngsters taking to the track,” he said. 

Right from the time Tendulkar arrived at the Irrungattukottai track as part of his commitment to his sponsor MRF Tyres at 10.30 in the morning, his manager Narayan has been on his toes screaming at people and clearing the way for the Little Master like a Black Cat. 

Tendulkar went into the hospitality lounge for a brief while, then to the MRF enclosure before entering the track to flag off the fourth round of the MRF single seater race. 

Then he went to watch the single seater race. “I told him to watch it on TV inside the hospitality lounge,” said Vicky Chandhok, a former president of the national federation (FMSCI). “But he wanted to see it live , so we took him to the top of the control tower.” 

Sachin loved the Chennai track and had driven for BMW (car shows) here. Later, he drove three laps in the two-seater with his friend Faisal of Tata group as co-driver and then with two of his managers too. Incidentally, his car was also numbered 10. 

And expectedly, the crowd lost interest in the race when the Little Master appeared at the paddock to prepare for his demo race, cheering ‘Sachin, Sachin’ and trying to take selfies, even from some distance.