Even before he took guard, Mahendra Singh Dhoni played his master-stroke for the master.
“Pehle yeh batao Sachin ke naam ki spelling galat kisne likhi (first tell me who misspelt Sachin’s name),” he counter-questioned at the beginning of the customary pre-match press interaction even as the first salvo was fired at him.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), as part of Sachin Tendulkar’s 199th Test celebrations and felicitations, had asked an agency to put up a portrait of the batsman on the giant electronic screen. The photo had a caption where Sachin’s name was misspelt ‘Sachine’.
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“There is no ‘e’ in Sachin’s name,” Dhoni pointed out, even as CAB got into damage control.
In quick time, Tendulkar’s picture was removed from the electronic screen with CAB officials promising to display the correct banner on Wednesday.
Dhoni had detected the error while at the training session and made it a point to embarrass the CAB officials for the bloomer.
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CAB has organised a photo exhibition on Tendulkar’s career, apart from putting up banners and posters all around the stadium. The match ticket will carry different shots of Tendulkar on each day’s flap.