Sachin Tendulkar does not play anymore but India keep winning ICC titles because of him

Four months apart. Two World Cup finals. Two players standing in front of a microphone after the biggest night of their careers and saying the same name. Shafali Verma after the Women's World Cup final in November 2025. Sanju Samson after the T20 World Cup final in March 2026. Different tournaments, different formats, different journeys to get there.

But the same name both times.

Sachin Tendulkar retired in November 2013. He has not played competitive cricket in more than twelve years. And yet in four months two Indian players winning World Cup finals pointed to him as the person who helped them get there. Not a coach. Not a selector. Sachin Tendulkar who retired over a decade ago and has apparently never stopped being the most important call an Indian cricketer can make when things go wrong.

Both players came into their tournaments from a difficult place. Dropped, sidelined, not quite trusted by the people making the decisions. Both of them found their way back through the same person. Both walked away from a World Cup final as the best player on the night.

Shafali Verma was not in plans and then she was the reason India won

Shafali was dropped from India's ODI squad in early 2025. She did not come back through form or a change of heart from the selectors. She came back as an injury replacement for Pratika Rawal just before the semi-finals. That is a difficult position to be in. You were not supposed to be there, the team was getting along fine without you, and now you have to justify yourself in a knockout game with almost no time to settle.

In the final against South Africa at Navi Mumbai she made 87 and took two wickets and won Player of the Match. When she spoke afterward she talked about Sachin Tendulkar. Not just the conversations they had been having but the fact that he was sitting in the stands that day. She said seeing him there gave her an incredible boost.

That just looking at Sachin Tendulkar made her believe she could do something special. That he is the master of cricket and the conversations with him gave her the confidence to go out and play her natural game without the occasion getting on top of her.

"When I saw him (Sachin Tendulkar) in the stands, it gave me an incredible boost. I keep talking to him, and he keeps giving me confidence. He is the master of cricket, and we keep getting inspired just looking at him. I just wanted to make my team win, and having his presence there made me believe I could." Shafali said after winning the Player of the Match award in final.

She grew up watching highlights of a player who retired before she could properly follow his career. Somehow she found her way to him and what he gave her was not a technical lesson. It was calm. The ability to walk out as an injury replacement in a World Cup final and play like she owned the place.

Also READ: India winning every ICC tournament is great for India but it is not great for cricket

Sanju Samson was out of the team in January and lifting the trophy in March

Samson's story is a little different but it starts in the same place. After a poor bilateral series against New Zealand in early 2026 he was dropped when the World Cup began and sat out the first few games. The uncertainty of whether the chance would come again was real. He said later that he felt as though his dreams were shattered during that time.

He reached out to Sachin Tendulkar and it was not about batting. About how to cope with being left out. About how to stay sharp when nothing was happening, when doubt was creeping in. Tendulkar kept the conversation going across those months and then called the night before the final in Ahmedabad just to check how Samson was feeling. Just to make sure things were right before the biggest game of his life.

Samson made 89 off 46 balls the next day and won Player of the Tournament. In his post-match speech he said he had been in constant touch with Sachin Tendulkar sir for two months and that the clarity and game sense those conversations gave him was something he was deeply grateful for. He said if he was getting guidance from someone like Tendulkar what more could he ask for.

"I hope I can share it here, for the last couple of months, I have been in constant touch with Sachin sir. When I was sitting outside, I reached out to him and had big conversations about the mindset required. Even yesterday, he called me up to check, 'How am I feeling?' If I'm getting guidance from someone like him, what more can I ask for? That clarity and game sense... I am very grateful." Sanju said after the game.

The man who retired in 2013 and never stopped mattering

Neither of them talked about a batting tip or something Sachin Tendulkar showed them in the nets. Both of them talked about what Sachin Tendulkar gave them when things were not going well and when the biggest game was coming. The mental side. The part coaching manuals cannot teach.

For Shafali it was the confidence to handle a comeback under pressure she had not planned for. For Samson it was the courage to keep going when the career felt like it was going the wrong way. In both cases Sachin Tendulkar was not a coach. He was the person who understood better than almost anyone what it feels like to walk out in a final carrying everything and had the wisdom to pass that understanding on.

Shafali Verma in November 2025. Sanju Samson in March 2026. Two World Cup finals. Two player of the tournament awards. Two post-match speeches pointing to the same person. Sachin Tendulkar retired more than twelve years ago and he is still the most important voice in Indian cricket when it matters most. Just not with a bat in his hand anymore.