India legend does not want intense pressure on his son. Coaching youngsters could be part of life after playing.
Arjun, Sara, Anjali and Sachin Tendulkar
Arjun, Sara, Anjali and Sachin Tendulkar

As the febrile adulation that consumed his cricket life showed no signs of abating, Sachin Tendulkar, newly bestowed with the country's highest civilian honour, spent his first day of retirement here pleading for India not to heap similar pressures on his son.

Arjun Tendulkar is 14 and making a decent name for himself as a batsman in the Mumbai junior leagues but his father, still being treated like a deity at a familiarly crazy first post-retirement press conference, made it clear if he had ever been put under the same spotlight when he was a kid, he would have become a writer rather than a sporting legend. "As a father, I will say leave Arjun Tendulkar alone," said his 40-year-old father, still immaculate in his India blazer.

"I will say let him enjoy the cricket, don't burden him with exp