06 November,2014 08:50 AM IST | | PTI
Tendulkar's wife Anjali, who once posed as a journalist to get an entry into Sachin's home, gets candid about her love-affair with the batting legend during the launch of his autobiography
Sachin Tendulkar (left) with wife Anjali at the launch of his autobiography in the city yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
It was at an airport where medical student Anjali Mehta saw the wonder boy of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar and was floored by his "cute looks". She ran after him screaming "Sachin... Sachin", much to the embarrassment of the 17-year-old Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar (left) with wife Anjali at the launch of his autobiography in the city yesterday. Pic/Nimesh Dave
She even forgot about her mother whom she had to gone to pick with a friend. This love-at-first-sight story was narrated by Anjali Tendulkar yesterday at the launch of her husband's autobiography - Playing It My Way.
"I had gone to pick my mother and then I saw him and my friend told me 'he is the wonder boy of Indian cricket.' I told my friend, 'Oh! he is so cute.' Then I ran after him and forgot about my mother," Anjali said, recollecting the episode.
"Sachin was so embarrassed, he didn't even look at me." Anjali said she later managed to get Tendulkar's number and called him: "I called him and said 'I'm Anjali and I saw you at the airport'. He said he remembered me and also remembered that I was wearing an orange t-shirt."
Posing as a journalist
Anjali recalled how Sachin was scared when she visited his house for the first time and asked her to pose as a sports journalist instead. "He was a bit hesitant, he said 'how can a girl can come to my house?'"
Adding to the story, Tendulkar said his sister-in-law though had guessed that something was fishy. "She asked me later 'was she really a journalist or something else'," Tendulkar said adding that she had seen him giving Anjali chocolates.
Anjali also revealed that it was she who informed Sachin's parents that they wanted to get engaged since he was away in New Zealand.
Tendulkar said that telling his parents that he wanted to marry Anjali was tougher than facing the most fearsome fast bowlers. "Indeed it was and that is how I had planned it. I was sitting in New Zealand happily and Anjali did it," he said.
