Mr. Tendulkar Can U Help Me… West Indies Cricketer Winston Benjamin’s Emotional Appeal To Sachin Tendulkar

Trinidad: Former West Indies cricketer Winston Benjamin has reached out to Sachin Tendulkar to help him improve the cricket infrastructure at the grass-root level in West Indies. The donations Benjamin is looking for do not necessarily need to be financial but cricket equipment like bats and kits will also work as he can distribute those to budding players. Benjamin also thanked former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin for donating cricket equipment.

“Mr. Tendulkar… if you are in a position, could you assist me? Hit me up,” he said while sharing his phone number,” he said. “I would like to thank my good friend Mohammad Azharuddin. He sent me some equipment over. Azhar, congratulations! And thank you so much for that assistance. Stay in touch. Anyone else who wants to contribute, feel free.”

“Previously, we used to have a tournament in Sharjah where it used to be like a benefit game for players from different countries. I don’t want benefit. All I want is for somebody to say ‘here is some equipment’ – 10-15 bats, that is good enough for me. I don’t want 20000 US dollars. I just want some equipment so that I can give back to youngsters. That’s all I am asking,” Benjamin said in a video shared by veteran sports journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel.

Benjamin played 21 Tests and 85 ODIs for West Indies between 1986 and 1995 and picked up 161 wickets.  West Indies used to be a dominant force in world cricket back in the 80s and 90s but politics and lack of proper infrastructure meant that the cricket in country went downhill.  Things need to improve at the grassroot level if West Indies have to re-live their glory days.