Sachin Tendulkar revealed few unknown stories from his life on the eve of his 45th birthday. The Indian cricket great was the chief guest at a book release function of Eleven Gods and A Billion Indians, authored by Boria Majumdar.
Tendulkar shared an anecdote from the 2011 World Cup win. His wife Anjali wasn't ready to come to the ground because of superstition. But after India won the trophy, Sachin called her to join the celebration.
"After we won the World Cup, Anjali, being superstitious, didn’t want to be on the ground. I called her and said, 'What are you doing at home? You got to be here in the dressing room, we are all celebrating'.
"Somehow she makes it to the stadium but while she was getting there, just outside the ground, people were dancing, celebrating and jumping on top of cars.
"So they spotted Anjali and said 'We can’t touch this car, we can’t do anything on this car'. She gets inside the stadium and then we were all celebrating. When it was time to go back to the hotel, I looked at the car and noticed dents on the roof," the former India cricketer said.
Sachin's car had dents as the fans started celebrating jumping on top of his car. The master blaster said the dents reminds him of those beautiful moments of World Cup.
"The driver said, 'After I dropped madam (Anjali), everyone started jumping and dancing on the top of the car. I said that’s not a bad idea, these dents will always remind (us) of those wonderful moments from the World Cup, so I call them 'Happy Dents'," he said.
Enroute to the World Cup 2011 triumph, India had a game tied even after scoring 338 against England. Sachin, who scored a hundred in that game, shared memories from the epic encounter.
"The England match in Bengaluru was a special game for us. We scored, I think, 338, and then it was a tie. So the message started circulating that whenever (M.S.) Dhoni, as captain, had been involved in a tied game, he has gone on to win the title.
"If you notice, the first IPL, the first ICC Champions Trophy, the first World T20 in South Africa - these are the tournaments (which India won) where there had been a tie - and this was also a tie, so we thought we would win the World Cup too. And that’s how it all started.
"After the final, we went back to the hotel and God knows how many bottles of champagne were opened that night. On the floor, nobody was allowed to shut their door and virtually in each and every room, they had their own music going on.
"And in our room - for a change - I had a flower stuck here and then we were dancing and singing and all that, which I have never done before in my life," Sachin said.
He added that it's not unusual for him. But it was the moment to cherish and something he can't imagine.
"I don’t do it every weekend but that was a special moment for us, something that I cannot imagine. After winning the World Cup, you feel 'Okay how are we going to celebrate' and it just happened on its own momentum, its own rhythm.
"Then we went to the top floor where all the friends and players got together and we went on till 5:30 or 6 in the morning," the owner of 100 international hundreds added.
Current Indian skipper Virat Kohli is inching towards Sachin's records. He looks the closest to break his record. Tendulkar, after being asked if he will send Virat Kohli 50 bottles of champagne when he gets to his 50th ODI century, said, "100 percent. I will personally go there and share it with him."
