Sachin and his superstitions: How the Master Blaster's pre-match rituals led to a century of centuries

Indian cricket over the years has produced some of the best players of the sport over the years. But none of them have had the same amount of influence as the 'Master Blaster' of Indian cricket, i.e Sachin Tendulkar. During his extremely illustrious career in the sport, during which he broke many records, the biggest of that being the ability to score a century of centuries in international cricket.

And much like his many teammates in the national team, Sachin believed in many superstitions during his long career that his teammates and he also followed many of those during his long and illustrious cricketing career.

Sachin Tendulkar is no exception to the superstitions as the legendary cricketer maintained a certain pattern while wearing the kit and getting ready to step onto the field with the bat. Tendulkar would always wear the left pad first before going to bat, quite opposite to Dravid who used to wear the right pad first.

The first and true god of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar is someone who was known for his sublime gameplay, as he changed the face of cricket over the years. The Master Blaster had a tendency of wearing his left pad before the right, as he believed that it brought him luck. He also admitted to not watching the 2011 ICC World Cup final and instead, was busy praying inside the dressing room, as India rode to the title win.

He inherited the habit of putting his left pad first from the likes of Jack Hobbs. His other contribution to the annals of superstition was during the Delhi Test of 1999, while Anil Kumble was on his way to his record ten for 74. During that entire spell, Tendulkar insisted on taking Kumble’s sweater and cap and passing it to umpire AV Jayaprakash.

The GOAT of cricket once admitted that he followed a superstition of wearing the left pad first, whenever he walked out to bat during a match. Tendulkar believed that this thing allowed him to perform better. We are sure even without it, he would have gone on to become the highest run-scorer in Tests as well as ODIs.