Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated and respected cricketers in the world. His records in Tests and ODIs are undisputed and almost unbeatable, to say the least. And as the batting maestro turns 47 on the 24th of April, it is imminent that wishes would be flooding for him from all over the world. Meanwhile, India’s Test batsman Ajinkya Rahane recalled an incident ahead of the occasion when he reached well before time to meet Sachin for the first time.
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Ajinkya Rahane narrates the story when he met Sachin Tendulkar for the first time:
Rahane took to Instagram to narrate that incident. As a 14-year old cricket-loving fan, the right-handed batsman requested his coach to set up a meeting with Sachin. To his amazement, he received permission and got the time slot of 4:30 in the evening. But out of his excitement, the 31-year old reached in the morning itself, not wanting to leave out any chance to meet him.
Furthermore, Ajinkya Rahane batsman hilariously said that he traveled from Dombivali to Dadar where his coach lived exteremely early, negating the possibility of transport issues later on. He spent his time outside Dadar station and finally met Sachin at his residence in the evening, where he took his autograph and discussed a bit about the sport.
“I was 14 and on my birthday I requested my coach that I want to meet Sachin He took permission from Sachin and he said yes. He told my coach that you can ask Ajinkya to come around 4:30 in the evening. I was so excited and nervous as well. We used to live in Dombivali at the time so from there I went to Dadar where my coach lived. 9:30 in the morning, I was there at his house. And Sachin had called me at 4:30 pm.”
“So my coach asked why are you here now and I said what if the train got delayed or there was no train. I don’t want to miss any chance of meeting Sachin. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing for all that time but I was roaming around outside Dadar station. I was so excited about meeting Sachin that I did not even understand when all that time went. And then I met him for the first time at his home, took his autograph and discussed a little bit about cricket.”
Ajinkya Rahane would go on to share the dressing room with the highest run-getter in ODIs and Tests in his initial years with India and Mumbai. The elegant batsman has now become a regular fixture in the Indian middle-order, featuring in 65 Tests with 4203 runs under his belt.
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