During his days at high school, the legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar was amongst the mischief-mongers of the class. A backbencher, who more often than not was seen standing outside the class or near the black board as a form of punishment, Tendulkar was not known for being an academically bright student too.
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With an aim to play quality Cricket, the Master Blaster’s childhood Cricket coach, Ramakant Achrekar had insisted him to enroll at the Shardashram Vidyamandir in Dadar (Bombay). Joining him were two of his closest friend in former Indian batter Vinod Kambli and Ricky Cuoto.
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Ricky Cuoto went on to become a state-level umpire with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for some good 26 years, and still holds the Limca Book of records for the youngest umpire to pass a Cricket umpire’s examination in India at the tender age of 16 years and 116 days.
Even after Sachin had earned quite a name for himself in the world of Cricket as a batter, a modest Tendulkar would still greet him the way they used to meet during their school days. During one of the Ranji Trophy matches at the Wankhede Stadium, when Ricky had arrived to meet Tendulkar at the venue, he started handing him severe blows as part of their childhood game, leaving the fellow teammates absolutely stunned.
Sachin Tendulkar had developed a habit of signing on any piece of paper
The trio of Tendulkar, Kambli, and Ricky used to frequently visit each other’s house within minutes post the end of the class, where they would play soft ball Cricket or have their favourite dishes prepared.
Ricky had once mentioned quite an interesting account of a peculiar habit which Tendulkar had developed during his school days. The moment he had a sight of any piece of paper, he would begin scribbling his signature on it, as if preparing for the millions of pieces of paper he would go on to sign in the future upon the request of his die-heart fans.
“Sachin had a peculiar habit of signing on any piece of paper in school. Any piece of paper he would get, he would sign on it, I don’t know why, whether he was practicing for the future,” Ricky had exclaimed with a laugh a few years ago.
