Midway through the week, social media buzzed with excitement as Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar shared a cleverly captioned, humorous post that captured the imagination of his followers. The post featured an engaging image and quickly garnered significant interaction and admiration.

In the image posted on his official X account, Sachin is seen wearing a striking outfit, radiating a sense of youthful charm. The photograph captures his left-side profile as he gracefully bends over a riverbank to feed a duck. The picturesque backdrop includes a majestic mountain and beautifully layered grasslands, adding to the overall appeal of the scene.

The caption accompanying the image was particularly insightful, especially when paired with the backstory Sachin had previously shared during an event earlier this year. He recounted a humorous anecdote from his childhood, involving his friends from the Sahitya Sahawas housing society in Bandra, Mumbai, and his early experiences with gully cricket.

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Sachin narrated how he invited all his friends to watch him play, only to be dismissed for a duck in both matches. This led him to believe it was unfair to subject his friends to such lacklustre performances, and he resolved not to invite them to future games. However, in his next match, he managed to score a single run, which taught him a valuable lesson.

Since retiring from cricket, I don’t mind ducks 😁🦆 pic.twitter.com/6r4B9lle87

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 31, 2024

“I realised the importance of a single run because later, everyone used to tell us that one run can make the difference between winning and losing. It was a big transformation for me. In the first two matches, I had two scores of zero. Then I scored one run and went home — that one run changed my mood,” Sachin Tendulkar shared during the event.

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Sachin’s humorous and reflective post drew attention to his storied career and his early struggles, reminding fans of his humble beginnings and the lessons he learned along the way. Notably, Sachin has been dismissed for a duck on 14 occasions in Test cricket, with bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Makhaya Ntini, and Pedro Collins each claiming his wicket twice. In ODIs, he has been dismissed without scoring 20 times, with Courtney Walsh being the only bowler to dismiss him for a duck on two separate occasions.

Despite these setbacks, Sachin’s legacy as one of the greatest batters in cricket history remains undiminished. His ability to reflect on and share these moments with humor and humility continues to endear him to fans worldwide.