'How? That game started at 4 pm Indian time' - Harbhajan Singh trolls Suresh Raina over his 'bunking school to watch Tendulkar' claim

Sachin Tendulkar set the ground ablaze with his performance in Sharjah in 1998. The Master Blaster smashed two consecutive tons against the Aussies and hogged the headlines by his scintillating batting display. The world witnessed the brilliance of Tendulkar as he played a crucial role in India’s triumph in the Coca Cola Cup.

Tendulkar’s iconic hundred, popularly known as ‘The Desert Storm’, is considered as one of his best batting displays as the whole world was in awe after experiencing that knock. The Indian legend smashed one of his best tons as he amassed 143 runs when Sharjah‘s temperature had escalated to 41 degrees Celcius.

Tendulkar followed it up with another century in the final as he smashed a 134-run knock to help India clinch the Coca Cola Cup. Every young Indian fan aspired to be the ‘Next Tendulkar’ at that time as Sachin’s aura and popularity had started soaring to the sky. One among those young fans was Suresh Raina, who later shared the dressing room with Tendulkar in India’s World Cup-winning squad.

Suresh Raina, in an interview, reminisced Tendulkar’s knock and revealed how he skipped school to witness batting of the ‘Little Master’. Raina said that he was only 12 when he was left mesmerized by Tendulkar’s batting heroics at Sharjah and he used to bunk his school to watch the ‘Little Master’ in action.

‘I was a part of the series’: Harbhajan Singh

Raina also revealed that he and his friends used to watch only Sachin Tendulkar’s or Rahul Dravid‘s batting during their childhood. Once Tendulkar used to get dismissed, Raina and his friend would leave for home. According to the left-hander, it was Tendulkar’s batting coupled with Tony Greig’s commentary that kept him engaged in the match.

However, Raina’s claim that he used to bunk his school to watch Tendulkar was questioned by his India and CSK teammate Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan wondered how did Raina bunk school to watch the match which started at 4 pm in India when a traditional Indian school day does not go beyond 2-3 pm.

“School bunk how? That game started at 4 pm Indian time. I was part of the series,” asked Harbhajan through his Twitter.

School bunk 🙄😄 how ? That game started at 4 pm indian time 😜I was part of the series https://t.co/JWnZqa2Zl8

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 1, 2020