Mohan Sharma, a 40-year-old carpenter from Kalanaur village close to Lahli, will probably remember this Monday forever.
He was called upon to help Sachin Tendulkar find form at the end of second day’s play during the Haryana-Mumbai Ranji Trophy match at Lahli. Tendulkar, who will retire in a few weeks and had flopped in the first innings, scoring just five before awkwardly playing onto the stumps, seems pretty serious on going out with a bang. And he seems to be leaving no stone unturned, even if it means calling a local carpenter to fix his bats.
“Sachin wanted three of his brand new bats fixed. Apparently, there was some problem with their balance and he wanted a carpenter to scrape the base of the bat and also the top of the handle that seemed to be hitting his left elbow,” said an official on duty.
Tendulkar took stance and gauged the balance of the bats and checked the followthrough till everything was perfectly done. And at the end of it, Sharma asked for his reward — an autograph. Tendulkar gladly obliged but not before writing a compliment, praising him as the “best mistri” (artisan). “Mohan’s happiness knew no bounds when Sachin told the officials that only he should be called whenever there was a problem in the next two days,” added the official.