Fans feast on Sachin surprise at Kolkata

Sachin Tendulkar dropped by a City Centre restaurant this evening, bowling over the surprised crowd that formed to catch a glimpse of the Little Master.

Sachin, who is one short of his 100th international century, came in a red and white Mitsubishi Pajero around 8pm and was escorted into Caught ‘N’ Bowled, a restaurant themed on cricket on the fourth floor.

Even as fans waved and screamed, not many seemed to notice that cricketers Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha and Ajinkya Rahane were also in tow.

Dressed in jeans, a blue T-shirt and wearing a gold chain, Sachin smiled at the crowd and constantly looked behind to make sure his juniors were not lost in the melee. “No pushing,” he said politely but firmly to the bouncers when they seemed to be pushing fans out of the way.

As the players took the lift, some youngsters pushed aside barricades and ran up the stairs hoping to get an autograph. They were halted by security guards. When the lift doors opened, however, the guards themselves went click-click with their mobiles.

Till the time the players were there, the restaurant was out of bounds for other diners. Among the few inside were Sekhar Dutta, chairperson of S.D. Group that owns the eatery, MLA Sujit Bose and a few friends.

Sachin went through the menu and ordered dinner himself. Known for liking prawns, the master blaster straightaway went for golden fried prawn, besides fish finger and chicken reshmi kebab for starters; mutton biriyani, murgh kurchan and chicken bharta for main course. He skipped desert but sipped on a diet Coke.

The conversation during dinner was a cocktail of food and cricket. “We told him we’d pray for his 100th century at Eden Gardens,” said Bose, who has promised to send him some mutton chaap from Royal.

“I asked sir if he enjoyed the food and he said yes,” says Md Shamsul, who served him.

“Delicious food! Would love to come again,” is what Sachin wrote on the comments card at the end. Last heard, the management was planning to frame it.

Dinner over, the players made a quick retreat. The crowd outside had multiplied since Sachin’s entry and kept shouting out his name.

What was his message to the fans? “Thank you very much!” he told The Telegraph,climbing into the SUV.

Eight-year-old Arnab Bhattacharya was one lucky boy inside who got himself clicked with Sachin. “I train at Videocon Cricket Academy but was too shy to tell him,” he smiled.

“I have friends in the cricketing circuit who made this trip possible,” said Dutta. “Sachin had been keen to come to Caught ‘N’ Bowled on his previous trip to the city but it wasn’t possible then.”

If the restaurant lost out on customers for the 45-minutes that it had to be shut, it more than made up afterwards. “We want to sit where Sachin sat,” was what Raja Mukherjee said as he walked in along with his family after Sachin left. For their order they told the waiter to serve “everything that Sachin ate.”

Courtesy : Telegraph