Fondly known as the Master Blaster, Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as the greatest cricketer to have played for India.
Apart from his batting exploits and records, Tendulkar has also earned praises from many for his sharp cricketing brain. No wonder, a lot of modern-day cricketers consider him as a role model and often speak about his influence on them.
On Saturday (May 9), Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan opened up on his first interaction with Tendulkar.
Kishan, who had joined MI in 2018, said he first met the batting legend during a practice session.
"I still remember the time when I first met Sachin paaji (Tendulkar)," he told Cricbuzz. "He had come to see our practise session at Mumbai Indians. It was just after I got signed. I had been chatting with Rohit bhai (Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma) and told him about how I worshipped Sachin paaji all these years and now, suddenly he is in front of me."
The 21-year-old also revealed that Rohit told him to go have a chat with Sachin Tendulkar.
"Rohit bhai told me to go and have a chat. Fortunately, Sachin paaji himself came towards me to have a talk. I don't think I heard anything that he spoke, I was just watching him speak," he said.
In List A cricket, Ishan Kishan averages just above 36 with 2334 runs from 71 games. Impressive domestic stats have led to a lot of calls for him to be given a chance at the wicketkeeper's position in India's limited-overs squads.
"From my childhood, I just loved to play shots. Never really liked to leave the ball or defend it. Always loved to attack and liked the sound the ball made off the bat. I never got ruffled by the bowler's height or pace. For me, it was always about where the bowler was going to land it, and how I would tackle that," Kishan said.
