Often referred to as the “God of Cricket,” Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as the best cricketer of all time. His extraordinary career established new standards in the sport and made him a worldwide and Indian hero. Continually motivating the next generations of cricketers, Virat Kohli has become one of the finest modern players, following in Tendulkar’s brilliant footsteps.

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Virat Kohli recalls a humorous prank by seniors ahead of his first interaction with Sachin Tendulkar

Ahead of his first meeting with cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli revealed a light-hearted story from his early cricketing years during a recent event in Mumbai featuring a mischievous joke by his senior colleagues Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Munaf Patel. The entertaining narrative gave viewers a taste of the friendship and joyful environment that marked Kohli’s early international cricket years.

Kohli thought back to the 2008 home ODI series against Sri Lanka when his superiors assigned him a funny chore: bending down in front of Tendulkar when they visited. Young national team member Kohli was keen to honour the cricketing great at that time and took the direction seriously. But the great batsman halted Kohli as he was approaching Tendulkar, sensing what was occurring. Kohli immediately understood he had fallen for the ruckus his cheeky elders had planned.

During his first encounter with Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli kept telling the light-hearted joke and how Tendulkar responded with humour. Kohli claims that the cricket great seized the chance to laugh alongside the whole squad, particularly in reference to the sincere response of the young player to the joke. Though the occasion was light-hearted, it was obvious that Kohli still harbours great respect for Tendulkar. Apart from producing an unforgettable enjoyable moment, the whole incident strengthened the link among teammates.

Kohli debuted internationally in 2008 during the ODI series against Sri Lanka, and soon after he was sharing the pitch with his hero. Their first on-field cooperation took place in 2009 during the Compaq Cup final, when Tendulkar guided India to victory with an amazing strike of 138 runs off 133 balls. Kohli was also there during Tendulkar’s emotional farewell Test in 2013 against the West Indies in Mumbai, thus ushering a major chapter in both players’ careers.

Since then, Kohli has not only shared Tendulkar the cricket pitch but also exceeded some of his great marks. Kohli became the quickest player in international cricket to surpass 25,000, 26,000, and 27,000 runs numerous significant benchmarks. Kohli’s performance kept improving; he exceeded Tendulkar’s ODI run records at the 2023 World Cup, therefore confirming his status as one of the current greats of the game.  One of the heartwarming moments of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar was from last year, when Kohli surpassed Tendulkar’s ODI centuries record against New Zealand in the semifinal of the ODI World Cup , he paid homage to the icon he calls his idol on the pitch.