Gaekwad was honest, transparent and trustworthy as Team India coach: Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar with Aunshuman Gaekwad at the CCI on Friday. PIC/Atul Kamble

The year 1998 is considered a highly successful one for batting icon Sachin Tendulkar. It was also a year in which Team India were coached by Aunshuman Gaekwad, who took over from S Madan Lal.

On Friday, at the launch of Guts Amidst Bloodbath - the Aunshuman Gaekwad Narrative written by Aditya Bhushan and edited by Sachin Bajaj, Tendulkar paid a fine tribute to Gaekwad at the Cricket Club of India. "I was really fortunate to spend time with him [Gaekwad] when he was our coach; a number of interactions we had. Possibly, I had the best cricketing years of my life when he was our coach. We would have constructive discussions on my batting and the approach I should have.

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"Everyone has ups and downs in his career, but he was always there -- someone who was honest, very transparent and someone who one could trust. Whatever was discussed stayed confidential. That's an important quality for a coach. We really got to know each other really well," Tendulkar said.

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Gaekwad's stint coincided with some memorable moments for Tendulkar. He smashed Shane Warne & Co to play a key role in India's 1997-98 Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph. Later in the year, Tendulkar scored two scintillating hundreds to help India win the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah.

Tendulkar played five Tests in 1998 and averaged 80.88 with three centuries, while in one-day cricket, he slammed nine hundreds in 33 innings at 65.31 during that year.