Sachin Tendulkar is not only a god due to his heroic batting but also his jovial nature of humor. His antics are the legend and remembered by his teammates of the 2000s. Virat Kohli to Yuvraj Singh, they all have seen his naughty side but there was one incident with Suresh Raina which was so funny that it cannot be forgotten.
Raina Recalls the Airplane Mix-Up
Raina who shared the same field as Tendulkar between 2006 and the time the Master Blaster retired remembers so well an incident during a flight. During a trip to a match, an air hostess mistakenly referred to him as Arjun Tendulkar which presented a golden chance to Sachin to make a funny joke at Raina.
“We were once going to play a Test match when I was about 18 years old, and I was sitting in business class next to Sachin paaji. The air hostess approached and said good morning Sachin sir. How are you?’ and assuming I was Arjun Tendulkar, she said something to him about me in passing; Sachin paaji saw a chance to have some fun. He replied, ‘Yes, he’s not studying at all, what to do? I’ve even told Anjali (Tendulkar)’,” Raina said on the ‘Cheeky Singles’ show.
The Context of the Mix-Up
This happened most likely after July 2010 when Raina got his test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He is the 12th Indian batsman to score a century on Test debut, following in the footsteps of such greats as Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag in that match.
Sachin Tendulkar Clears the Air
The joke did not take too long to end because Sachin later explained the misunderstanding with the air hostess. Raina recalls the giggles that ensued as the whole team relished the funny misunderstanding and this is where Tendulkar was seen to love harmless fun on and off the pitch.
“Later, we went to the section where the other players were sitting, and I blurted, ‘Why are you making me sit in business class? You’ve made me Arjun Tendulkar!’ (Sachin) paaji eventually clarified it to air hostess saying, ‘He’s a part of the Indian cricket team, he is Suresh Raina, not my son’. Paaji loved playing such big pranks sometimes.” Raina mentioned.
Memorable Partnerships Beyond Pranks
Other great moments on the field were enjoyed by Raina and Tendulkar. Their 256 runs partnership in Colombo when Tendulkar and Raina scored 203 and 120 respectively were one of the highlights. Their efforts together saw India score a huge 707 in the first innings though the game was later drawn.
