[Watch] "Sabne mereko fasaya" - Virat Kohli revisits hilarious incident of being pranked by seniors into touching Sachin Tendulkar's feet
Team India batter Virat Kohli recently recalled a funny incident during his early days in international cricket when his seniors pranked him into touching the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's feet. The former India captain revealed the seniors told him that touching Tendulkar's feet was customary for youngsters and admitted that he ended up falling for the prank.
Kohli made his international debut in 2008 when Tendulkar was still part of the Indian team. During an international series, which also featured Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Munaf Patel as part of the Indian team, the newcomer was asked to bow down to Tendulkar.
Recalling the hilarious incident, the 36-year-old told host Gaurav Kapur during a recent HSBC event in Mumbai:
“The first time I met him (Tendulkar), main pairon mein gir gaya unke, maine kaha karna padta hoga (I fell on his feet, I thought this might be normal). Wo pichhe hat rahe hai, ki kya kar rahe ho tum (He moved back puzzled, asking what I was doing).
“Main unko bhi nahi bol paa raha ki paaji mujhe bola tha karna padhta hai yaha pe (I could not even tell him that I was asked to do this)," he went on to add.
Concluding the tale, Kohli said that Tendulkar was pretty quick to realize what was happening. The right-handed batter said:
“He gave all these guys a little bit. Irfan (Pathan) bhai was there, Bhajju pa (Harbhajan Singh) was there, Yuvi pa (Yuvraj Singh) was there, and Munaf Patel was there, of course. He used to be the one cheering from behind in his unique voice. Unhone sabne mereko fasaya (All of them pranked me)."
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Tendulkar played his last ODI in March 2012 and retired from international cricket in November 2013 after playing his 200th Test at his home ground in Mumbai against the West Indies.
Tendulkar and Kohli are the top two leading run-getters for Team India
Incidentally, Tendulkar and Kohli are the top two leading run-getters for India in international cricket. The former ended his career with 34,357 runs in 664 matches (782 innings) at an average of 48.52 with 100 hundreds and 164 fifties.
As for Kohli, he has so far amassed 27,134 runs in 538 matches (601 innings), averaging 52.78, with 80 hundreds and 141 fifties. The 36-year-old became the first batter to notch up 50 ODI tons with a century against New Zealand in the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal, surpassing Tendulkar's tally of 49 hundreds.