Published 12:57 IST, April 24th 2020
Sachin Tendulkar turns 47: Virat Kohli recalls nervous 1st meeting with the legend
Sachin Tendulkar: Virat Kohli recalled about his first meeting with the Master Blaster and how his teammates played a prank on him which left him red-faced.
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in modern-day cricket. His ability to adapt to different forms of the game and his sheer consistency in scoring runs speaks volumes about his character and style of play. After Sachin Tendulkar's retirement, there was a huge void that was left in the Indian team but Virat Kohli has been very much successful in filling that void.
Virat Kohli reveals embarrassing first meeting with Sachin Tendulkar
Virat Kohli has become Sachin Tendulkar's successor when it comes to being the batting mainstay of the team. Interestingly, the two batting maestros share a great camaraderie between them. Virat Kohli has praised Sachin Tendulkar on several occasions and has cited the 47-year old as the reason behind him being a cricketer.
Sachin Tendulkar has also been vocal about his feelings for Virat Kohli too. He had once told that if anyone had the ability to break his record of 100 centuries it was Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.
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The first meeting between the two was extremely interesting. In a talk show Breakfast with Champions, Virat Kohli recalled that when he made it first to the Indian team, he was shy of rubbing shoulders with the seasoned campaigners of the Indian cricket then. One day when Virat Kohli arrived at a net session, his fellow players told him that every new player in the side is expected to touch the feet of Sachin Tendulkar.
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Sachin Tendulkar was batting in the nets at that time. A naive Virat Kohli took the words of his teammates seriously and went to Sachin Tendulkar and actually touched his feet. Sachin Tendulkar was very amused with Virat Kohli's actions as he stopped him and told him that it was all a prank that his teammates had played on him. The Indian captain was left red-faced after Tendulkar's revelation.
Virat Kohli candidly revealed that he prepared himself for 2 days prior to that incident only to meet and talk to Sachin Tendulkar and looked at him in awe whenever he was in the dressing room. It was certainly a dream come true for Kohli, who was then convinced that there was no television screen between him and his idol and he was finally going to play alongside him.
Both Kohli and Tendulkar are busy actively making their fans aware of being responsible in the current fight against the coronavirus pandemic by staying at their homes during the ongoing India lockdown.
IMAGE COURTESY: VIRAT KOHLI INSTAGRAM
Updated 12:57 IST, April 24th 2020