Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Image Credit: X

When Virat Kohli started his career in international cricket, he always spoke about how he always used to follow his idol Sachin Tendulkar in his young days. Whether it was the latter’s batting in Sharjah or in Australia, the Delhi batter used to dream of reaching the position and carrying the same legacy forward in the future.

However, the first meeting of Virat Kohli with Tendulkar wasn’t so fluent as some of the senior members of the team left him embarrassed after successfully playing the prank. The story of the incident has already been shared by the veteran on multiple occasions in the past, but the sheer comedy of it still makes it funny to listen.

It was the ODI series in Sri Lanka, where he made his debut in 2008 while opening the batting because of the injury of their regular opener, Virender Sehwag. Tendulkar wasn’t available in the series but later returned to the England game.

Watch: Virat Kohli surprises Sachin Tendulkar on their first interaction

The senior teammates of Kohli instructed him that every time someone new joins the Indian team, they bow down to Tendulkar on their first meeting. The Delhi-born took the work seriously, only to find the Mumbai batter surprised at his behavior.

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Young Virat Kohli had no idea of the prank going around, as he decided to bow down before the ‘God’, only before Tendulkar cleared the air before him.

“First time I met him, main pairon mein gir gaya unke (I fell on his feet). Maine kaha karna pada hoga (I thought this might be the norm. Wo pichhe hat rahe hai, ki kya kar rahe ho tum (He moved back stunned, asking what I was doing. Main unko bhi nahi bol paa raha ki paaji mujhe bola the karna pada hai yaha pe (I couldn’t tell him either that I was told this is the norm).” The former Indian captain recalled the event while speaking to Gaurav Kapoor at an HSBC Bank function.

“He gave all these guys a little bit. Irfan (Pathan) bhai was there, Bhajju pa (Harbhajan Singh) was there, Yuvi pa (Yuvraj Singh), of course, and Munaf Patel. He used to be the one cheering from behind in his unique voice. Unhone sabne mereko fasaya (All of them pranked me).”Virat Kohli highlighted.

Since that time, he has had many memorable moments with the former Indian batter. When it comes to the 50-over format, the 36-year-old is the third leading run-getter with 13906 runs in 295 games at an average of 58.18 and a strike rate of over 93 with the help of 50 centuries, the most in the format across the world, and 72 half-centuries.

Tendulkar sits at the top of the table with 18426 runs in 463 innings. He is also the leading run-getter with 2278 runs in ODI World Cups, at an average of 56.95, thanks to his six centuries and 15 half-centuries.

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Virat Kohli sits just after Tendulkar in the same list, with 1795 runs in 37 innings at an average of close to 60, shouldering on five centuries and 12 half-centuries at a best score of 117 runs.

The last few weeks haven’t been healthy for him as he could manage only 93 runs in the three Tests at home against New Zealand, who went on to earn a series victory by 2-1 margin. Now, the focus for the Blue Brigade turns to the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where the anticipation would be to see Virat back in his fluent touch with the bat as India chases their third successive Test series win down under.