India cricket great Sachin Tendulkar on Monday opened up about his battle with anxiety that he suffered for a major part of his cricketing career. “The anxiety levels were very high,” said Tendulkar in an interaction session organised by Unacademy.

 “Over a period of time I realised that besides preparing physically for a game you have to prepare yourself mentally also. In my mind the match started long before I entered the ground,” Tendulkar said.

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He further added, “I felt the anxiety for 10-12 years, had many sleepless nights before the game. Later on I started accepting that it was part of my preparation. Then I made peace with time. I was not able to sleep at night. I would start doing something to keep my mind comfortable.”

“Acceptability is the key here. Not just for the player, for people around him also. Once you have accepted you start looking for a solution”, says Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar narrated a story of a hotel staff in Chennai and how he offered advice.

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He said, “ That person got me dosa in the room and after keeping it on the table, he offered an advice. He pointed out that my elbow guard was restricting my bat swing, which was actually the case. He helped me address that issue.”

Earlier in the month of March, Sachin Tendulkar took to Twitter and announced that he tested positive for COVID-19.