Sachin Tendulkar Marriage: The Little Master’s Love Story

By Krishna VarmaKrishna Varma  • 

Sachin Tendulkar is one person who really needs no introduction in our country. Fondly referred to as the ‘Little Master’, he is best known for his commendable achievements in the world of cricket. If there is one thing though, which he has managed to elude from the public eye, that’s his love life. But the Anjali Mehta Sachin Tendulkar marriage keeps going from strength to strength.

Sachin has always been reserved about vocally sharing the specifics of his relationship with the love of his life, his wife Anjali, a woman whom he has known since the age of 18. Their love tale is no short of being a mushy love story, with love elements like love at first sight, long distance courtship and cute love letters. So where does Mr. Master Blaster’s love story begin? Read on.

Don’t stop chasing your dreams, because dreams do come true.

Sachin Tendulkar Marriage

Anjali and Sachin’s story begins the same way many fantastic love stories do – with Cupid’s strike on first sight. Anjali first saw Sachin at the Mumbai Airport when she had gone to pick up her mother. Sachin was a dapper young lad of seventeen at the time, and just making his mark in world cricket. This was way back in the year 1990. As soon as Anjali saw him, she could not help but be incredibly attracted to what she describes as his “cute looks”. She forgot all about having to pick up her mother when she saw Sachin. However, Sachin, being the shy guy that he is, barely even looked at her then. But soon Anjali managed to get his phone number, and as fate would have it, he picked her call.

[Read More: MS Dhoni’s Marriage]

The Anjali Mehta Sachin Tendulkar Marriage – First Strike At First Ball

He said that he remembered her from the airport and he also remembered that she was wearing an orange T-shirt that day! Anjali confessed in an interview that she has that shirt even today! They also had the chance to meet up at a common friend’s home, and this was the beginning of this lovely relationship. What drew Sachin to Anjali was, as he admitted later, the fact that she did not know anything about the world of cricket. She had remained quite busy pursuing her degree in medicine and did not have much time to keep track of cricket. What Sachin had really liked about Anjali was precisely this – the fact that she had no clear picture of the world of cricket and did not treat him like a celebrity when she met him.  How much cuter can the Anjali and Sachin Tendulkar marriage get? Well..

Sachin Tendulkar Marriage – Super Cute Facts About Sachin & Anjali’s Love Story:

  • The madly-in-love couple used to write letters to each other when Sachin was on international tours – as they couldn’t afford regular ISD calls!
  • Sachin was too scared to break the news to their family and asked Anajli to go talk to his family about their relationship – while he was away in New Zealand.
  • Anjali disguised herself as a journalist to visit Sachin at his house for the first time.

In fact, Anjali believes that they were destined to meet then, and that it could not have been any other way. Her father had asked her to meet a “wonder boy” (read Sachin) of the cricketing world two years before she met Sachin, and she had said no to that because she had no interest whatsoever in cricket. She says that their romance would have blossomed sooner, if they had met then! Way to go, Sachin!

[Read More: Rahul Dravid Marriage]

About Sachin And Anjali’s Parents

Sachin’s father was Ramesh Tendulkar, who was a famous Marathi novelist and a teacher. His second wife was Rajni who was an LIC agent (insurance agent) and it was to this couple that Sachin was born in 1973. Sachin already had two half-brothers Nitin and Ajit, and a half-sister Savita, children from Ramesh Tendulkar’s first marriage. It was in fact his half-brother Ajit, who first introduced Sachin to the legendary cricket coach Ramakant Achrekar who trained Sachin to be the cricketer we know today. It is no wonder that Sachin often credits the efforts of his brother as being pivotal in the formation of his cricket career. It was his brother who one day noticed the natural flair Sachin had for cricket when he was watching him play a cricket game for his school. In other words, Ajit has always been an encouraging brother to Sachin all throughout the ups and downs of his career. If it hadn’t been for his care and mentorship during Sachin’s early years in cricket, the world would have not got a cricketing legend as Sachin. Nothing best sums the impact of Ajit’s efforts on Sachin’s life as these words spoken by Sachin just months before his retirement in 2012.

“He has been physically and mentally with me throughout. It’s like he has played with me all these years.”
– Sachin Tendulkar on his brother Ajit Tendulkar

Sachin’s wife Anjali Tendulkar is the daughter of the Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. Anjali’s mother is a British social worker named Annabel Mehta. In fact, Sachin is a prominent sponsor of a Mumbai-based NGO who also has his mother-in-law as one of the sponsors. Anjali herself by profession was a paediatrician but gave up her practice after marriage to take care of her children.

Sachin Tendulkar Marriage – The Wide Ball Called Celebrity Status

Well, they were soon in a clandestine relationship. It wasn’t all that easy to keep up their relationship because Sachin was almost never in Mumbai. Sachin was not only a huge celebrity right from the beginning of his career, but the couple also had to deal with really long distances while he was on tour. The net result of all this was that they never really got many opportunities to go out together or be together like a normal couple would.

‘I don’t eat. I don’t answer phones. I don’t even move when Sachin is batting.’ – Anjali Tendulkar

In an interview, Anjali talks about how they once went to watch the movie “Roja” along with a few mutual friends. Afraid of being recognized and inundated with questions and attention from fans, Sachin actually wore a fake beard and glasses to the movie. They took all precautions and even went in a few minutes late for the movie, once it got all dark. But, unfortunately for them, during the interval, Sachin’s glasses fell off, and they were immediately surrounded by his adoring fans. They had to leave from the movie theatre mid-way! Talk about interesting first dates. Not only that, Anjali managed to visit Sachin at his house, posing as a journalist. This was how she met his family for the first time. Sachin was very nervous about a girl coming to visit him at home, but she decided to go ahead anyway. But, his sister-in-law did sense that something was up when she saw Sachin giving her a box of chocolates, and even questioned him about it. Lol, talk about dropping the ball on an super-obvious upcoming Anjali Sachin Tendulkar marriage; on the bright side, she saw the future, hehe.

But for the majority of the time, though, the truth was that Sachin would be away more often than not. Any long-distance relationship is hard to maintain, but to deal with it right from the very beginning of their relationship must have been no mean feat for these two love birds.

When people throw stones at you, you turn them into milestones.

Anjali recalls having walked for kilometres out of her campus at night after ten, battling the “goons” out there in the streets, just so that she could give him a call when he was playing abroad. They could only afford the call rates at night, because they were cheap. In order to save money, the only other way out for the couple was to write each other letters whenever Sachin was not around. And this is exactly what they did! Quite unimaginable for us now, right? But it is also a wonderful art that is now fast dying. Think about it, they would have these handwritten letters with them, even today, just slightly frayed and greyed. This is truly romantic.

[Read More: Virender Sehwag Marriage]

Sachin Tendulkar marriage – Time To Start New Innings

Eventually, the couple decided to take their relationship to the next level, a.k.a the Anjali Mehta Sachin Tendulkar marriage. They got engaged in New Zealand after their courtship lasted for four years. When it was time to tell the family, however, it was Anjali who stepped up. Sachin was away in New Zealand, and was very nervous about having to break the news to his family. So he had asked Anjali to tell his folks at home about it, and she went ahead and did exactly that. Tendulkar admitted that having to tell his parents about wanting to marry Anjali was tougher for him than facing the most fearsome fast bowlers on the crease. “Indeed it was and that is how I had planned it. I was sitting in New Zealand happily and Anjali did it,” adds Sachin with his usual charming smile.

I hate losing and cricket being my first love, once I enter the ground it’s a different zone altogether and that hunger for winning is always there.

On 25 May 1995, they were married in a traditional Hindu ceremony in Jewel of India, Worli, Mumbai. The wedding was very simple, as befits this couple. Sachin as always looked extremely cute in his white embroidered kurta and pyjama. Anjali looked simply radiant and gorgeous in an amazing red and gold saree which she draped to perfection. Her hair was elegant and resplendent in a high bun, which was embellished with hair accessories. The simple albeit gorgeous matha patti that adorned her forehead added that extra element of grace in her. The couple was clearly ecstatic and love struck.

Sachin Tendulkar Marriage – Not Out For Two Decades And Still Going Strong

The super-successful Anjali Mehta Sachin Tendulkar has hit twenty years, and these two lovers are on their way to complete many many more. They have two gorgeous children, Sara and Arjun. When Sara was born, Sachin wanted to take on a greater share of the household responsibilities, but Anjali asked him to focus on his cricket.

If you remain humble, people will give you love and respect even after you have finished with the game. As a parent, I would be happier hearing people say, “Sachin is a good human being” than “Sachin is a great cricketer” any day.

Arjun And Sara Tendulkar

Sachin and Anjali’s son Arjun Tendulkar has been following the footsteps of his father, and has taken a keen interest in cricket. He is a left-hand batsman, and a left-hand seamer. In January 2013, he was selected in the under-14 Mumbai team. He was already in the list of 32 probable players since he had scored 250 runs in five matches in various inter-school cricket tournaments. It is no surprise that we will be seeing the junior Tendulkar take the same path like his father.

Sachin’s daughter Sara Tendulkar has predominantly maintained a low profile although she is often seen accompanying her mother Anjali at social events and gatherings. After her 18th birthday, there were rumours of Sara joining her movies. Sachin later put the rumours to rest with a tweet and added that he was annoyed by hearing all these speculations. For now, Sara’s main priorities are studies, and she is said to be an avidly involved in it.

Do they discuss cricket? Well, Sachin tries to keep his career away from his family life. But Anjali, being the kind of woman that she is, took the effort to learn all about the nuances of the world of cricket when they were dating itself, much to Sachin’s surprise. Whenever Sachin felt despair about his career, it was Anjali who always lightened his burden and put things in perspective. Sachin adds, “Anjali actually taught me to be grateful for what God has given me, and also for what God has not given me.”

We also heard that whenever Sachin was on the crease, Anjali would leave everything that she was doing and sit at the same spot. She wouldn’t eat or drink until his time at the crease came to a close. Now we know who we have to thank for all of Sachin’s amazing knocks, right?

And another funny personal fact Anajli has shared is about his love for cars.

When Sachin got his Ferrari home I asked him to show me how to change its gears because they are near the steering and move with the fingers. To my surprise, he said, ‘You don’t need to drive my Ferrari.’ In fact, I needed to know because at times we need to move it when he’s not around. I’ve been longing to drive his Ferrari.

[Read More: Rohit Sharma’s Wedding]

Anjali is one of the women you can’t help but admire for her intelligence, her grit and her charm. It is true that a small man cast a large shadow, but Sachin’s shadow would definitely have been shorter without Anjali by his side. So, here’s toasting this lovely couple on their twentieth anniversary, and wishing them many more years of good health, happiness and love.

Image Sources: 1, 3

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