An SMS to treasure, and a walk in Adelaide
Veteran journalist Lokendra Pratap Sahi chats about the thrills and challenges of interviewing Tendulkar

"Never ever has he given the impression that he is the Sachin Tendulkar" • AFP
Longevity. And the respect and trust he has in me. In fact the morning after the Kolkata Test we exchanged some SMS-es on a particular issue. In his last response, which it will not be proper to divulge, he ended by writing: "That's why people respect you for your ethics."
The problem initially was he was too shy. He still is. Initially the impression I got was he would give rather predictable answers, not open up. He would not want to say too much. But in the more recent interactions he is more forthcoming. He has become a much better speaker and is much more open to express an opinion on a few things, which he was extremely reluctant to do in the earlier phase of his career.
In December 2012, his decision to quit ODIs caught everyone by surprise. I sent him messages and for the first time he did not respond. Next day one of the English dailies proclaimed they had an exclusive with him after his retirement. Subsequently I was told the interview was done in advance and had been retained to be run once he quit. When I sent him a message saying I was disappointed at him for not responding, while a rival paper had an interview. In his response he seemed annoyed. "You are also becoming one of them (journalists). I haven't done any interview," he wrote back.
Talking to the greatest cricketer of our generation and often spending more than an hour in his company, to have that kind of access, to have his respect and trust.
His calmness and the way he tries to oblige people is admirable. On the 2011-12 tour of Australia, during the Adelaide Test, Ravi Shastri had invited Sachin for dinner. On his way out we ran into each other in the hotel lobby. He told me he did not know where Ravi stayed, so I told him I would take him. It was just a five-minute walk across from the Intercontinental Hotel in Adelaide.