India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar has often expressed how the 2011 world Cup Triumph as the ‘greatest moment of cricketing career’. Recently, he recalled a funny incident from his playing days, shedding light on how a few of his Indian teammates had played a prank on Virat during his first series with the senior Indian cricket team.
For the unversed, in 2017, in an interview, Virat Kohli, who made his India debut in August 2008 revealed how is senior teammates Yuvraj Singh, Munaf Patel, and Irfan Pathan had tricked him into believing that debutants have to seek blessings from Sachin Tendulkar by touching his feet.
Kohli revealed that his eagerness to meet Sachin didn’t give him the time to assess whether his teammates were saying the truth or playing a prankster.
Talking about the same, Sachin revealed that he was left surprised when Virat Kohli fell at his feet, not knowing what was happening. It was only after both the cricketers turned back and looked behind their shoulders, they were able to see the group of pranksters laughing. He said:
“I didn’t know what was happening. I asked him ‘what are you doing?’. Told him that there was no need for this and such things don’t happen. Then he got up and we looked at those guys, they started laughing,”
He added:
“After getting selected, the initial two days the only thing I could think about is meeting Sachin in the dressing room in any way possible. And these people got wind of it because I had told that to someone,”
Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar also recalled the iconic 2011 World Cup triumph and said that it was the ‘best cricketing moment’ of his career. Sachin said that he was scared of being dropped after Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan took him on their shoulders during the victory lap after India’s victory at the Wankhede Stadium. He said:
“When I saw Kapil Dev lifting the World Cup in 1983, it was an unbelievable experience, I enjoyed it with my friends and I wanted to chase my dream. I decided what may come, I have to focus and chase my dream of lifting the World Cup. In Mumbai at Wankhede, it was just unbelievable, it was the best cricketing day of life. How many times you have the country celebrate, many few things are there which the entire country celebrates,”
He added:
“The victory lap had one incident when Virat and Yusuf Pathan lifted me, I told them to ensure that I do not fall down. It was not just the Indian team that won the World Cup, it was the entire nation, it is all of us who did it,”
