Virat Kohli reveals what he gave to his Idol Sachin Tendulkar on the day he retired from International cricket after 25 years of service for his country.
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Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the most prolific modern-day cricketer. If you happen to chance upon an Indian and ask him who the best cricketer in the world is, it is very likely that the Master Blaster will be their answer.
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It is no different for Virat Kohli who also grew up idolising Tendulkar like the multitude of fans around the world. Despite being compared to the Maestro, the Indian Skipper has maintained distance from such frivolities and continues to see him in the same light as he did as a youngster when he was still learning the ropes of the trade.
India’s favorite son
The fondness comes with good reason. After all, Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman in the world to score 100 international centuries and over 34000 international runs. He was popular all through his career. However, his name was made when India weren’t the batting force it is today.
He singlehandedly took it upon himself to put up a fight, regardless of the opposition and bowler in front of him. His, was the only wicket that mattered. The running joke was that Tendulkar was like the handle of a bicycle. If he falls, the rest of the team follows.
That changed with the arrival of Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. However, he still remained an integral part of the team until his retirement.
Being an inspiration to the generation before him, that included Kohli himself, it was a very emotional moment for the modern day great to see his idol retire. Therefore, he decided to part ways with an extremely valuable item and hand it to the legend on the day of his farewell.
Virat Kohli reveals what he gave to his Idol Sachin Tendulkar on the day he retired
In a recent interview with Graham Bensinger, Kohli revealed that he gifted Tendulkar a sacred thread that was given to him by his late father. He said:
“We usually wear threads around our wrists in India. So, my father gave one to me which he used to have, just to keep with me. So I used to keep that with me in my bag and then I thought this is the most valuable thing I have.”
“My father gave this to me and I think I couldn’t give you anything more valuable and I just want you to know how much you have inspired me and how much you mean to all of us. This is my little gift,”
“So that was a very emotional thing for us to process, but his emotion obviously was of a different level at that stage. In front of his people going out like that, the most amazing farewell I have ever seen,” he added.
You can watch the interview here
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