Sachin: A Billion Dreams - 5 unknown facts revealed in the movie

#1 The team wasn’t united during 2007 World Cup

India lost to Bangladesh in their opening encounter of the 2007 World Cup

The most startling revelation made during the movie was that of the team’s unity during the 2007 World Cup. Sachin was heard as saying that there were two factions in the squad, clearly indicating that Chappell’s policy of ‘divide and rule’ was working.

Sachin revealed that the team was playing as one for the namesake but wasn’t present on the field as a unit. Quite understandably, the team was knocked out of the tournament from the league stages and lost to Bangladesh, something that the master hadn’t expected, as he later revealed.

The aftermath of the loss and the ouster saw Rahul Dravid, the then captain, relinquishing captaincy and Greg Chappell being sacked as the coach. However, that was not all.

The pain and the stigma of the elimination were so much that several members of the squad cried for hours in the bathroom, Sachin revealed, and he also termed it as one of the worst moments of his career.

Back home, the criticism was so much that Tendulkar locked himself inside his room for a week and didn’t see anyone. He was also contemplating retirement from international cricket but his childhood hero Vivian Richards came to his rescue.

Richards called Sachin over the phone and asked him to continue by reminding him of whatever he had achieved in his career till date and urged him not to retire. These words of encouragement from the West Indies legend helped Sachin revive his career and play for six more years and eventually fulfill his dream of lifting the World Cup in 2011.