Sports tought me to compete in right spirit: Tendulkar

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar today said sports tought him to get up on his feet again and compete in the right spirit.
"It is not always I went out and succeeded. But there were number of occasions, when I could not do well. But sports taught me to get up on my feet again and compete in the right spirit", he said, in his address to the grand finale of Isha Gramotsvam, a rural sports camp, organised by Isha Foundation, here tonight.
"Sports means everything to me and sports taught me a lot of things in life...To be disciplined and to be focused," he said.

"Sports is something, which gives you a reason to smile. It is hence I am smiling in front of you," he said.
Noticing that the success of Gramotsavam, in which the rural men and women played sports like volleyball, throwball, kabaddi and pole climbing, Tendulkar suggested to the Foundation to organise such sporting activities in Puttamraju Kandrika, a village in Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, which he had adopted.
"Engaging in sports helps the community to come closer and stay tighter in difficult times. Sports teaches you on team work, which can never fail," he said.
"If you apply it in your day to day life, most of the problems will be solved," he said.

The former cricketer also shared his love for the game of volleyball and said when he was a child he played the game in his building.