From rxpgnews.com
Unique birthday gift for Tendulkar
By IANS,
Apr 24, 2007 - 8:02:49 PM
Mumbai, April 24 - The somewhat subdued birthday celebrations of Indian cricket's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, who turned 34 Tuesday, was lit up with a unique gift from his childhood friend and former India batsman Vinod Kambli -34 miniature bats with Kambli's signature.
Tendulkar has rarely celebrated his birthdays lavishly, preferring to spend time with his family - his wife, their son and daughter, and other relatives. And Tuesday saw the usual low-key affair at his suburban Mumbai residence in Bandra -.
However, for the little master the gift of 34 miniature bats was indeed special.
'Returning from the World Cup debacle and rested for the three-match ODI series, Tendulkar had a low-key birthday unlike his 30th birthday when he won the 'Player of the Tournament' award in South Africa four years back,' said a sports journalist close to the cricketer.
Meanwhile Kambli, who sent him the miniature autographed bats, said: 'Sending Sachin the bats with my autograph is a way of telling him that the bat is symbolic of his - love for cricket. And hence I sent him not one but 34 of them, one bat for every year.'
'More so, I also got a chance to give him my autograph, which I never have.'
'When he got his 35th Test hundred, I sent him 35 vada pavs -. It had brought a smile to his face,' reminisced Kambli, who shares a record opening stance with Tendulkar in school cricket.
Kambli is confident that his childhood friend would make a comeback in a big way in the Test series.
'The little master will surely make a comeback with a bang as he hates to be rested without proper reason. He would have loved to be in Bangladesh for the One-Day series,' Kambli told a local tabloid Tuesday.
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