The Disciple of the Disciple-Tendulkar

When a kid broke into the security ring and ran up straight to the spot where Indian cricketers were practicing, the security personnel got quite off guard at first. But they were soon back to their wit when they came to know who the little boy was. He was none other than Joshua---the son of Gary Kirsten, the coach. However, when it came to learning the nuances of cricket, the boy clearly showed that he preferred international cricket’s one of the greatest batsmen in over his father to be his coach. The little boy headed straight to Sachin Tendulkar and without wasting time demanded the full attention of the Mumbai cricketer. And the boy was so determined that Sachin finally gave up and spared the next thirty minutes teaching the son of his teacher a few basics of cricket. 

As it came out, the boy aspires to be a bowler and so the batting maestro offered the child a few tips on left-arm spin bowling, instead of teaching batting nuances. The boy was keen on correcting his jump before the delivery. Learning some wicket keeping basics was also in his agenda and he even showed the master blaster the exact way how it is done behind the wicket. First measuring his step behind the stumps, then marking his position and finally crouching on the toes just like a professional wicket keeper---the eye for details from a five year old amused everybody present around the ground. 

He however took Sachin off guard once when he demanded his bat. But Sachin tackled it well by sending the kid to Rahul Dravid by saying that he was the man in possession of two bats. Dravid, who was not sure of his intention was at first apprehensive of giving away the bat to the little boy. As it came out, the boy simply wanted to exhibit his own batting prowess to his bowling instructor---after showing a few things about batting, Joshua returned the bat to whom he had borrowed it. 

In another incident, a school boy got the chance to bowl at world’s highest run scorer and claimed that he had probably cracked the mystery that even Shane Warne couldn’t. After a spell of bowling to the 36 year old cricketer who has made cricket records more than any body else in the international cricket, St Paul’s Collegiate student Owen Robinson came to realize that the international cricket’s one of the most respected batsman may be susceptible to a lofted drive. However, the experience of bowling Sehwag was not quite enjoyable; “He smashed me,” said Robinson, who belongs to the same institution that New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori attended.