Sachin Tendulkar batted briefly against the locals during his visit to Kashmir.
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, who is on a visit to Kashmir, engaged in a short spell of batting with the locals, and proved why he, even 10 years after retiring from professional cricket, has still got it. Tendulkar’s trip to Kashmir has been captured beautifully on his social media handles as he visited Pahalgam and a cricket bat manufacturing unit at Chursoo on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, but nothing beats Sachin with a bat… anywhere, everywhere.
Sachin Tendulkar doing what he does best. (Sachin Tendulkar-Instagram Screengrab)
In the latest video uploaded by Tendulkar on his Instagram and X handles, Sachin stopped his car on a road and requested the locals, engaged in a game of cricket. “Hum khelein?” (Can I play), he requested and the locals, obviously obliged. Facing a tennis ball, Tendulkar went back to his initial days as he brought out some shots but none more astonishing than the one which he played off the final ball.
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As Tendulkar took strike off the last ball, he told the bowler, “Out karna padega” (You have to get me out). However, much like numerous legendary bowlers whom the Master Blaster encountered throughout his career, he couldn’t dismiss Tendulkar either. Tendulkar, holding the bat upside down, unleashed a cover drive with a cracking sound as the onlookers applauded and Sachin’s wife Anjali watched with a beaming smile on her face.
Watch the video:
Tendulkar then capped off the game by taking a selfie with fans. “Cricket & Kashmir: A MATCH in HEAVEN,” he captioned his Instagram post.
Tendulkar in Kashmir
As Tendulkar travelled economy class, in a video that has gone viral, Sachin was received with pomp and glory inside the aircraft. The public briefly turned the flight into a stadium as they greeted Tendulkar with the iconic ‘Sachin, Sachin’ chants, leaving Tendulkar in absolute awe of the gesture.
As Tendulkar visited the MJ bat manufacturing company, he checked out and studied some of the bats carefully. The bats made from Kashmir willow have a huge fan base in India and as it turns out, Tendulkar’s first tryst with cricket was with it. Sachin did some knocking with one of the Kashmir Willow bats and revealed a fascinating tale which many might not be aware of.
“The first bat given to me was by my sister and it was a Kashmir willow bat. Ab main yahaan hoon to Kashmir willow ko to milna banta hai. (Now that I’m in Kashmir, meeting a willow is a must) P.S: An interesting fact; some of my favourite bats had only about 5-6 grains. How many grains do your bats have?” he quizzed.
Tendulkar’s last match
Tendulkar retired from professional cricket in November of 2013 but every now and then turns up for the occasional exhibition games. He played the MCC vs Rest of the World Cup in 2014 and the Cricket All Stars Series where he led ‘Sachin’s Masters’ against the late great Shane Warne’s ‘Warne’s Warriors’. Tendulkar has also been captaining India Legends in the Road Safety World Series and made a brief appearance at the charity match organised to help the bushfire victims in Australia.
