Sachin Tendulkar refused to correct air-hostess when she mistook India cricketer for Arjun: 'He's not studying at all'

Besides being arguably the greatest batsman of all time, Sachin Tendulkar was also a master prankster. Ask anyone who's played with him – especially the class of 2000 who made their debuts under Sourav Ganguly – and they'll tell you the same. Tales of Tendulkar pulling his teammates' legs are the stuff of legends. Virat Kohli experienced it first-hand, as did Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag, but all their instances dwarf in comparison to the one Suresh Raina faced. Sachin Tendulkar has always been a master prankster(AFP)

Raina and Tendulkar were teammates from 2006 all the way till the end of the Master Blaster's retirement. They were part of some famous wins and heartbreaks at the same time, but despite all the ups and downs, Raina clearly remembers this one incident on a plane. On their way to a city to play a match, Raina recalled when Tendulkar decided to have some fun at his expense.

"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 came over 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 incident is likely to have happened sometime after July, 2010, the year Raina made his Test debut for India. Against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Raina became the 12th Indian batter to score a century in Test debut, joining an illustrious list featuring Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, among others.

Did Sachin Tendulkar clear the air?

Revisiting that flight further, Raina added that Sachin finally went up to the air and cleared the case of mistaken identity, but not before they and the entire team had a good laugh about it.

"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.

Raina and Tendulkar have been involved in some memorable batting partnerships but none more famous than a 256-run stand in the same match at Colombo. Tendulkar top-scored for India with 203, while Raina hit 120 to take India to a humongous first-innings total of 707. The match ended in a draw.

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