Sachin Tendulkar was known to have a dignified presence on the pitch, but didn’t stop short of dipping into his bagful of pranks off it, an instance of which was recently narrated by his former India teammate Hemang Badani on an Instagram show.
Speaking on #StoriesWithHemangBadani, Badani looked back at the time Tendulkar targeted fast bowler Javagal Srinath with one of his pranks, just before India’s ODI game against England at Cuttack in 2002.
Despite being at the far end of his established career, Srinath was uncharacteristically edgy on the eve of the game, prompting Tendulkar to come up with an ingenious plan.
“Actually, what has happened after that is, because of this banter and lighter moment, he gets back to being normal and bowls a brilliant spell,”Badani continued.
“But he had to come off the field after the first over, he changed his trousers, he asked me, ‘What the hell is happening, kisne kia [who did it]’ and all that. I said I have no clue. I innocently put my hands up and said, ‘I don’t know, Sri, what you’re talking about. I don’t know what’s happening!’
“And [he] eventually changed his trousers, went back in, and he bowled a brilliant spell.”
