During the launch of his new sportswear brand, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar took a nostalgic detour to share a deeply personal story—one that reveals how a simple act of kindness from a senior teammate helped ignite his legendary career. The moment? When Pravin Amre promised teenage Sachin a pair of cricket shoes if he scored a century.
“Score a hundred and take them,” Amre told him. And when Tendulkar delivered, Amre kept his word—gifting him his very first proper pair of cricket shoes. For a young boy from Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, where dreams were big but resources were scarce, those shoes weren’t just footwear. They were validation, encouragement, and a symbol of belief from someone who’d already walked the path.
In the late 1980s, quality cricket gear was a luxury many aspiring players couldn’t afford. Tendulkar, despite his prodigious talent, often trained in hand-me-downs or ill-fitting boots. So when Amre—a rising star in Mumbai cricket and soon-to-be Test centurion on debut—offered new shoes as a reward, it wasn’t just a gift; it was an investment in potential.
Tendulkar, now 51, recalled the moment with visible emotion: “That gesture stayed with me my entire life. It wasn’t about the shoes—it was about someone seeing something in me before the world did.”
While Amre is best known for scoring a century on Test debut against South Africa in 1992, his influence extends far beyond his own stats. As a senior in the Mumbai dressing room, he took young talents like Tendulkar under his wing, offering technical advice, mental support, and yes—even gear.
“Pravin bhai was always generous,” Tendulkar said. “He never made a big deal of it, but those small acts created a culture of care in our team.” Their bond, forged in the nets of Brabourne Stadium and Wankhede, remains strong decades later.
| Player | Mentor | Key Gesture |
|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | Pravin Amre | Gifted first cricket shoes after a century |
| Rohit Sharma | Dinesh Lad | Coached from school level; arranged trials |
| Ajinkya Rahane | Dilip Vengsarkar | Guided through U-19 and domestic cricket |
Today, as Tendulkar launches his own sportswear line, he’s paying it forward—ensuring young athletes across India have access to quality gear regardless of background. “If I can help one kid feel what I felt that day,” he said, “then we’ve done something right.”
The story of Amre’s shoes is more than cricket folklore. It’s a reminder that greatness isn’t built in isolation—it’s nurtured by those who believe in you before you’ve proven yourself to the world.
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