Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli: Master-Protege, Guru-Shishya or God-Devotee

After his long emotional farewell at the Wankhede Stadium on November 16, 2013, Sachin Tendulkar was finally sitting all himself in the dressing room. The fans hadn’t left yet, the chants of “Sacheeeen, Sacheeen” were still echoing outside. During his final goode speech, Tendulkar had been continuously taking swigs from a water bottle to push down the lump that repeatedly rose in his throat.Now he was about to face another tough test in self-restraint. What followed was proof of a special spiritual bond that Tendulkar shares with his successor and the man who equalled his record of 49 ODI hundreds in front of a frenzied Eden Gardens crowd – Virat Kohli.

In his autobiography, Playing it My Way, Tendulkar had spoken about the brief but solemn moment he had with Kohli on his final day as an international cricketer. Seeing Tendulkar finally alone that day, Kohli had walked up to him with tears in his eyes. In his hands were strands of a few fading threads, the kind worn on wrs for good luck. They were given to him his late father and he had preserved them for close to seven years.
Sachin Tendulkar takes a lap of honour at the Wankhede Stadium on Virat Kohli’s shoulders at the end of his 200 Test in 2013. (Express photo Pradip Das)
Kohli wanted Tendulkar to keep them. He would later say that it was the most valuable thing he possessed and he wanted to gift it to his inspiration. Kohli touched his senior’s feet and handed him the threads. Tendulkar recalls the moment in his book: “I was speechless. I held him tight and said, ‘Arre, tu yeh kya kar raha hain? Tujhe yahan nahi, yahan hona hai.’ (What are you doing touching my feet? You should be giving me a hug).” An overwhelmed Tendulkar would nod his head and ask Kohli to leave. “I would have burst into tears if I had tried to say anything else. It was a gesture I can never forget.”

For years, the one Tendulkar-Kohli moment that has stayed imprinted on the nation’s retina has been from the 2011 World Cup. Tendulkar on Kohli’s shoulders remains the obvious cover picture of modern-day Indian cricket. The frame has gravitas. It captures the passing of the baton, India’s uncanny ability to produce champion batsmen, and also celebrates the country’s ancient guru-shishya tradition.

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But what happened away from public view, inside the dressing room, points to a much deeper attachment between two geniuses with more than 15 years of age difference. The boy who lost his father early in life and Indian cricket’s unquestionable patriarch were much more than teammates and their connection was far more personal than between any teacher and student.
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Guardian angel
In his interviews, Tendulkar often calls Kohli his friend. But for Kohli’s generation, and even the one before that, Tendulkar’s stature was too high to put an arm around him. Such has been his aura that many a young cricketer would spend their first few hours in the Indian dressing room pinching themselves – assuring themselves that they were actually in the presence of the man they worshipped. They would stand up when he would enter the dressing room, watching him prepare from a dance and look at their palm in disbelief after a handshake.
Kohli’s initiation to Tendulkar’s circle was comparatively easy. Around the time he made his debut in 2008, Tendulkar loved spending evenings with Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan. Since Kohli didn’t take much time to warm up to his North Zone seniors Bhajji Pa and Yuvi Pa, he too was on Paaji terms with Tendulkar.

In a matter of a few years, they would form the core group that won the 2011 World Cup. On that magical April 2 night, once the team had reached the team hotel, the newly-crowned world champions would party till dawn. Guards were dropped, inhibitions abandoned. It was in this atmosphere that three young men walked into Tendulkar’s room to pour their hearts out. They would tell their Paaji, who had stood them through thick and thin, what he meant to them.
Tendulkar writes in his book. “The party went on into the early hours of the morning … Anyone could come in and have a drink and celebrate. In one memorable moment, Virat, Bhajji, Yuvraj went down on their knees and sang: Tujhme rab dikhta hai yaara mai kya karu (What to do, my friend, in you we see God himself).”
Tendulkar had motivated severely-ill, but Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh, all through the World Cup. He was Harbhajan’s side during Monkeygate. And Kohli too had his reasons. Once during the T20 World Cup in 2016, Kohli was batting when the Eden Gardens giant screen showed Tendulkar. The then Indian skipper bowed even as Tendulkar blushed.
Kohli had reached out to this friend a.k.a God when he faced his career’s gravest confidence crisis. It was the time when, according to him, he felt like the loneliest man in the world. In 2014, after a disastrous tour to England, Kohli thought he had forgotten batting. Kohli would call Tendulkar, the oracle with all batting solutions. That would be the all-important first step towards complete healing and launch of Kohli 2.0.
Friend, philosopher, guide
Till date, Tendulkar has been very reluctant to speak about the inputs he gave to the troubled champion. Kohli has been less secretive, he has shared with the world about the batting tweaks he undertook after interacting with Tendulkar. “I came back from England and spoke to Sachin paaji … I told him that I am working on my hip position. He made me realise the importance of a big stride, a forward press against fast bowlers as well. The moment I started doing that with my hip alignment, things started ironing out nicely.”
There have been ups and downs in Kohli’s career after that but the hip position, big stride, and forward press against fast bowlers have stayed with him. On the day he reached ODI cricket’s batting summit, Kohli was ticking all the boxes that Tendulkar had led long back. One knew it was Kohli’s day when very early in the innings, he drove South Africa’s most dangerous pacer Kagiso Rabada through the covers. Hip (check), stride (check), press (check). All okay, the 49th was loading.
Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar discuss their craft at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata back in 2013. Express photo Partha Paul
Tendulkar also shared with his heir-apparent some important batting hacks. One of which was very handy in ODIs – a format where keeping the scoreboard ticking, scoring singles and rotating strike are key. Tendulkar shared with Kohli a trade secret. He asked him to not turn the bat as it was very risky. placing that bat gently in line of the ball and allowing the pace to automatically take it to the third man region was a wiser way of taking a single.Most Read
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Growing up, like the rest of India in the 1990s, Tendulkar was Kohli’s die-hard hero too. He would buy nibbles and cold drinks and be glued to the television when his idol batted. In case Tendulkar got out chasing a steep target, he couldn’t sleep. Kohli would lie in bed dreaming how he would one day finish those tight India games.
Since those days of staring at the roof of his West Delhi home and thinking of reaching for the stars beyond it, Kohli has come a long way. scoring the 49th ODI hundred, he is now on par with Tendulkar. Having reached the target in 277 innings – Tendulkar needed 452 outings – Kohli is expected to take the record to a height where it might not be humanly possible to match.
But still crossing the Tendulkar milestone on his birthday didn’t seem like a protégé being on par with his master or a student turning out to be better than the teacher. It felt more like a devotee reaching an important shrine on an auspicious day during his long pilgrimage.