Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh took Indian cricket fans on a nostalgic trip as they shared a hilarious story from the past. The two stalwarts played for India for several years together and developed a close friendship during that time. During the Lunch break on Day 1 of the 2nd Test between India and Bangladesh in Kolkata, Tendulkar recalled the story of when the off-spinner bowled to him in the nets for the first time.
“When we went to Mohali for the first time. It was around in 1996. The locals were telling me that there is a youngster here who bowls really well. He bowls off-spin and also throws a good doosra. So I said call him and ask him to bowl to me in the nets. I would like to face him. I want to see how good he is and if he is that good, we will encourage him further. So Bhajji started bowling to me. While doing so, he continuously kept coming to me, saying “ji paaji”. So I kept saying ‘what, go back and bowl’. It happened too many times. I didn’t know the reason why Bhajji kept coming up to me,” Tendulkar said.
{{/usCountry}}“When we went to Mohali for the first time. It was around in 1996. The locals were telling me that there is a youngster here who bowls really well. He bowls off-spin and also throws a good doosra. So I said call him and ask him to bowl to me in the nets. I would like to face him. I want to see how good he is and if he is that good, we will encourage him further. So Bhajji started bowling to me. While doing so, he continuously kept coming to me, saying “ji paaji”. So I kept saying ‘what, go back and bowl’. It happened too many times. I didn’t know the reason why Bhajji kept coming up to me,” Tendulkar said.
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“After he got into the team, we started knowing each other, and he started opening up to me. So he said, ‘Paaji ek baat batani hai aapko’. I said ‘bata’. He said ‘When I was bowling to you in the nets for the first time, why were you calling me towards you?’. I asked ‘when was I calling you?’. Later I found out that the way I used to adjust my helmet, Bhajji used to think that I was calling him and he kept coming up to me,” he added.
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In response to the story, Harbhajan further said: “Paaji had such an aura, that instead of my bowling, I used to look at him and how he is reacting. So I used to go up to him. So he would ask ‘kya hua’ and I would say ‘aap hi ne to bulaya hai’. But it was a fan boy moment for me, and how it all changed for me, and I started playing for the Indian cricket team and I used to bowl among these greats, and spend time with them. I cannot imagine a better time in my life.”