Tendulkar's tryst with Golf: Master blaster shows he can swing a golf club as expertly as a bat

Tendulkar's tryst with Golf: Master blaster shows he can swing a golf club as expertly as a bat

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is known to be keen on racquet sports, but if one watches him swing a golf club, one will be convinced that he could be good at any sport.

Tendulkar was at the Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad on Friday and tried his hand at golf as he hit nearly 25 balls. He wielded the club like a cricket bat, and his swing was as natural as that of a professional.

The large galleries surrounding the cricketing ace were amazed to see that each of his shots was crossing the 200-yard mark, which is some achievement even for a weekend golfer.

"I like to hit the ball, whether it's cricket or golf," joked Sachin at a media interaction. "I have played golf only a few times, once with teammates when we were on a tour to South Africa. But I want to play golf more in times to come," said the maestro, who was on a visit to his villa at Kensville.

Former Test cricketer Rahul Sanghvi also tried his hand at golf.

There is an adage that golf is addictive. Tendulkar said: "Some of my friends play golf. They say the more we play golf, the more our appetite for it grows. Probably it can happen to me also once I start playing more golf."

At present, it seems that associating with golf has become a style statement for cricketers with Kapil Dev owning the Chandigarh team at the Rs.1.25 crore Louis Philippe Cup and Harbhajan Singh co-owning Uttarakhand Lions at the inaugural Golf Premier League next month.

Asked if he has a similar plan, he said, "As of now I haven't decided but probably in future I may think over it. Cricket and golf are associated with a bat or ball so golf seems to be an obvious choice for cricketers these days."

Tendulkar was full of praise for the layout.

"I have been to many golf courses and even had an occasional attempt at the driving range, but visiting a golf course, while a tournament is in progress was a new experience.

"I really enjoyed it and the golf course is a lovely one. I have seen other courses, but I really liked this one," said Tendulkar. He said that what separates golf from other sports is its peaceful nature.

"I have played cricket throughout my life and there is a lot of cheering in the stadium even before I take strike. But in golf, you can feel silence even after making a shot, and it helps you think more clearly," said Tendulkar.

Coincidently, his son Arjun is also in the city at the Motera cricket stadium, where the u-14 Mumbai XI is playing Gujarat in the West Zone League. However, Tendulkar didn't visit his son.

"I don't want to intervene in his career. I want to leave him alone to enjoy life and cricket," he said.