The reason behind Sachin Tendulkar's floppy hat
Without a doubt, Sachin Tendulkar is the biggest icon of cricket. 24 years in international cricket, with continuous success, is just something he only has done.
For a celebrity, the public attention is a common thing. Though Tendulkar has not been a flamboyant person like other modern players, his stature was big enough to excite people even about the small things he did. For example, in 2012, Sachin's step of getting his hairs to straighten from a trademark curly style, left his fans opining differently.
One more famous thing about Sachin was the floppy hat which he used to sport during fielding. He did not start to use the floppy hat as a style but it was a compulsion. Many would not know the reason why Sachin started to do so in the year 2008.
Let's check out the reason behind this Sachin trademark:
Back in 2007, when India toured Australia for a full series, on the route to Australia, Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh had bought a newly launched moisturizing cream at the Singapore airport. Initially, Sachin did not have any issue in using that cream and it was all well. But, during the opening Test at Melbourne, he felt a burning sensation on his face. Though Harbhajan had not had any such problem, Tendulkar thought it was caused by the massage when he lied down with his face on a towel, and the detergent used on the towel would have caused this.
With every day, the problem kept increasing, and it had reached to the extent that Tendulkar found his face all red and swollen. The problem was absolutely irritating for the little master and it even caused irritable behavior towards his kids.
He then consulted a doctor in Sydney for some relief. The doctor provided him a lotion as first aid and asked to come back the next morning. The next day Sachin insisted before the doctor that he had to play a Test match the following morning, and asked him to do something to give him some quick relief.
In the afternoon he could not join the practice session as he was not in the condition to go out in the sun. So he opted for the indoor nets to get some practice.
He managed to play the Sydney Test, and it was the inception of a trademark when he came on the field, wearing a floppy white hat. Tendulkar did so to guard his face against the sun. For more precaution, he had put up a lot of ice on his face and then stuck it with zinc cream.