Dodda Ganesh says he can’t refrain from calling Sachin Tendulkar as ‘Sir’

The former India fast bowler Dodda Ganesh has revealed that he used to address Sachin Tendulkar as ‘Sir’ as a mark of respect. The cricketer has played a lot of games, especially at the domestic level with the master-blaster and has recalled some of the memorable incidents during his playing days. Ganesh who represented India in four Test matches and a solitary One-Day International had also applied for the position of the head coach after the resignation of Anil Kumble in June.

The cricketer from Karnataka was one of the main players of the team in the first-class cricket. His record of 365 wickets in 104 matches proves his mettle as the fast bowler. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play for India for a long time but he was rated highly for his bowling skills. He picked 20 five-wicket hauls in his illustrious career and was last seen playing the competitive cricket in 2005. He also participated in 89 List-A matches and scalped 128 wickets at an average of 27.11.

Sachin is God and icon

Dodda Ganesh, in an interview to Kashmir Times, revealed some of the interesting insights while he was batting with Sachin Tendulkar during his international career. In the book of Rajdeep Sardesai named ‘Democracy XI’, the master of the game has recalled the incident of requesting Ganesh to not call him ‘Sir. But he insisted that the adjective used to come out automatically for Sachin. “I had two options to address him. One was to say “bhaiya” (brother) or Sir and I chose the later,” he said.

Ganesh also remembered an incident on the field when Allan Donald abused him. “In one of the Test matches (Cape Town) on this tour of South Africa (1996-97) I was batting at the other end with Sachin Tendulkar, who was at the crease with 160 odd runs and had told him to score double hundred. Though not understanding this, it angered the bowler Allan Donald and he started abusing me. I was poor in English then but could understand what Sachin had told Donald that if he wants to abuse me, he must speak in Kannada,” he added.

He also said that Sachin is a God and he will continue calling him ‘Sir’ forever. “Sachin is a God and icon and this Sir adjective naturally comes out automatically. We played many other domestic matches together thereafter but I always respected him and I still call him Sir and will continue calling him Sir Sachin”, Ganesh concluded.