Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has recalled an interesting incident when modern-cricket great Virat Kohli had presented a special gift to his ‘idol’ on the occasion of Tendulkar’s retirement. Notably, in November 2013, the ‘Master Blaster’ played his last international game against West Indies at his home ground Wankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai.
Tendulkar reminisced that it was an emotional moment for him as he was in tears upon reaching the dressing room as it was the last walk for him as an Indian player. The 48-year-old said he was sitting at a corner and wiping his tears with a towel before Virat came up to him and gave a ‘sacred thread’ that belonged to the latter had received from his father.
“Oh, I still remember it. I had just returned to the change room, and I was in tears. Till then, I knew that yes, I am going to retire, but when that ball was done, I said to myself… ‘Ok, that’s it. Never ever in your life, you will walk out on the field as an international player for India’. So I was sitting in one corner alone with a towel on my head and wiping tears. I was really emotional and couldn’t control my tears. Virat came to me at that time, and he gave me the sacred thread that his father had given him,” Sachin told American journalist Graham Ben during a show at his YouTube channel.
Tendulkar revealed that he kept the special gift with him for a while before returning it back to Kohli as it was priceless and should belong to the Delhi-lad only.
“I kept that for a while and returned it to him… told him it is priceless. This has to stay with you. This is yours and no one else’s. You should have it till your last breath. And I gave it back to him. So that was an emotional moment… something that will always be with me in my memory forever,” added Tendulkar.
