'I Just Geeked Out On Cricket': Ryan Fox To NDTV On Meeting Sachin Tendulkar

Ryan Fox recalled how he "geeked out" over cricket during his meeting with Sachin Tendulkar.© X (Twitter)

New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has recalled his interaction with legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and how the conversation surrounding golf took a backseat. Fox and Tendulkar crossed paths during the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where the Master Blaster was a guest as DP World's global cricket ambassador. Viral videos showed Tendulkar receiving impromptu putting lessons from Fox, who is the maternal grandson of former New Zealand cricketer Merv Wallace. Fox, who is in India for the New Delhi leg of the DP World Championship, recalled how he "geeked out" over cricket during his impromptu meeting with Tendulkar.

"First of all, Sachin is a legend. There's no other word to describe him. My family has a cricketing background too. My grandfather played cricket for New Zealand, so I grew up with the game and loved watching him bat. Technically, he was amazing. To have such a long career at the level he did was incredible," Fox told NDTV.

Fox also revealed that he did not shy away from flexing his cricket knowledge, despite admitting that he was star-struck upon meeting one of his idols.

"To be honest, most of my discussions with him were actually about cricket and some of the technical aspects. I don't think I took much of it into golf. I just geeked out on cricket while speaking to him," said Fox.

"Sport is great like that. You can have a hero from a different sport. All I wanted to do was talk cricket with him, and he probably wanted to talk a little bit of golf with me. We discussed the arm-lock putter I use and I explained that to him. It was a nice crossover."

Fox also expressed a desire to meet Tendulkar again and discuss the mental side of sustaining excellence and handling pressure over such a long career.

"He would be a really interesting person to talk to about the mental side of sport, how he prepared and how he handled the pressure. Cricket feels like a religion in India, and to have an entire nation riding on your shoulders, and to deal with that for so long, would make for a fascinating conversation," he revealed.

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