Almost everyone in India is a Sachin Tendulkar fan. So much so, that when Tendulkar gets out, people switch their TV sets off. Everybody likes that cover drive or that flick of the wrist, but more than that, people love Sachin as a human being. He is always soft spoken in his interviews, and you’ll never see a hint of arrogance in him (unlike India’s current captain Virat Kohli).

But, while he is such an idol, Tendulkar is a fan boy just like the rest of us. He loves Dire Straits, John McEnroe and Roger Federer to name a few. Surely, we can’t be as great a cricketer as Sachin, but we can certainly be as passionate a fan as he is. Recently, Sachin had a fanboy moment when he met Bee Gees star Barry Glibb.

Like all of us at MW India, Sachin too is a great music enthusiast, and loves both English and Hindi music. In an interview, he had mentioned how he once got a guitar signed by the legendary Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits. “It was only natural that music should soon become my second love after cricket and it has remained that way ever since,” he wrote in his autobiography Playing It My Way, while talking about his younger years.

Even in sports, Sachin does not restrict himself to cricket. Like this writer, he is a big Tennis fan, and you’ll often see him cheering for Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

He was also a huge John McEnroe (who is as famous for his You cannot be serious outburst, as he is for his Tennis) fan. “My big-time hero was John McEnroe. I just loved that guy. All my friends and family would support Bjorn Borg, I was the only one supporting John McEnroe — everyone used to call me “Mac” because I styled myself on him. I made my father buy me the same headbands and sweatbands and even grew my hair long. You wouldn’t believe the pictures of me from that time,” Sachin said in an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine.

You’ll also see Sachin rub shoulders with the likes of Roger Federer, David Beckham and Michael Schumacher among others. We wonder what their conversations would be like.