Nearly 35 years since he faced his first international delivery in Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar is still making debuts – well, sort of. On Friday, the India great made his Twitter ‘Ask Me Anything’ debut, revealing a little more about himself.

At a time when most celebrities (their fans rather) are dealing with lost legacy blue tick-marks, Tendulkar employed the #AskSachin hashtag on one random Friday afternoon. Taking in questions from fans and promptly answering them, Tendulkar touched upon most things from cricketing anecdotes to his love for biryani, garnished with some bits of humour along the way.

Here are the highlights from his ‘chat’ with his fans, three days before his 50th birthday:

The cricketing questions

Q from Chinmay Bhogle (son of Harsha Bhogle): I’ve noticed that batters today don’t use their feet against spin as much as batters did in, say, the 90s. Has there been a change in the way people play spin and does comfort with big-hitting in T20s have anything to do with it?

A: It could be that during practice, most of the throwdowns are done by the side-armers who throw fast.

Q: His favourite 100

A: 114 at Perth in 1992

Q: Cover drive or straight drive – the shot that makes him feel more confident while batting

A: When I hit a straight drive, I know my body balance is right and it’s also my favourite shot.

Q: If you are [and] Sunny Bhai [Gavaskar] had opened the innings together against the formidable fast bowling of West Indies, who would have taken strike first?

A: Of course seniors first, par ye mat socho ki non-striker ko kabhi batting nahi karni padti [but don’t think non-strikers don’t get to bat].

Q: What was the first advice you gave to Arjun after he was determined to play professional cricket?

A: Are you sure?

Q: Straight Drive or Uppercut – his favourite one:

A: Possibly this Uppercut – the one I played against Brett Lee in Perth (2007/08).

Q: What did you tell Virat at this moment (picture of a departing Tendulkar stopping for a moment to give the incoming Kohli advice during the 2011 World Cup final)

A: “Ab bhi ball thoda swing ho raha hai!” (The ball is still swinging a bit!)

Q: Which is your favourite stadium in India apart from Wankhede?

A: Chepauk

Q: While everyone rates your pulled six of [Andy] Caddick as your best six, do you remember the one somewhat similar shot that you hit of Wasim Akram in Sharjah in 1994?

A: I remember this. I had just started opening the innings for Team India in ODIs.

For those wondering, the reference is probably to this shot.

Beyond cricket

Q: His favourite footballer

A: (Tendulkar shared a picture of Lionel Messi)

Q: Your favourite cheat meal of all time

Biryani

***

Beyond these, there were a few more answers – quite a few related to his son Arjun Tendulkar, who made his IPL debut this week. Sachin revealed that his first question to Arjun after the young one told him that he wanted to seriously pursue cricket, was: “Are you sure?”. He also revealed that Arjun once got him out at Lord’s. In another tweet, he wished Rohit, Arjun and him were playing together at Mumbai Indians.

There were mentions of MS (Dhoni) and Dadi (Sourav Ganguly) and proud references to the Indian flag.

And not to forget, revisits of a few iconic moments from his playing career:

Spot on! 😉 https://t.co/TTlkF9qciH

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 21, 2023

Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost! 😉 https://t.co/CmVo2P8C8e

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 21, 2023

Now even Twitter allows more than 280 characters – how to describe this special innings in one word? 😛

Chalo you try!? https://t.co/ayIrrpA35S

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 21, 2023

Thankful for the overwhelming reception I got! 🙏
Photo credits- @iamATULKAMBLE https://t.co/UPP5dBDgRE

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 21, 2023