Suresh Raina Says He Bunked School To Watch Sachin's 'Desert Storm' Knock: But Match Started At 4 PM, Says Harbhajan Singh

Sachin Tendulkar's hundred was later christened the 'Desert Storm' after play was suspended for 25 minutes while the wild sand storm swept through the stadium.

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New Delhi: The India cricket team's 'king of spin' Harbhajan Singh took a cheeky dig at veteran middle-order batsman Suresh Raina on Twitter, asking the out-of-favour cricketer how he could bunk school to watch Sachin Tendulkar's iconic 'Desert Storm' knock at Sharjah in the summer of 1998 when the ODI game itself started at 4 pm IST. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar played one of the most memorable innings in ODI cricket as he scored 143 off just 131 balls while batting against the 'invincible Australian cricket team' on April 22 in 1988. Sachin Tendulkar's hundred was later christened the 'Desert Storm' after play was suspended for 25 minutes while the wild sand storm swept through the stadium. In a recent interview, Suresh Raina had claimed that he bunked school to watch the great Sachin bat in that 50-overs match against Australia. "We used to bunk the last two periods of school because the tournament in Sharjah was going on. Sachin paaji used to open in that era. "Paaji ki batting hi dekhte the uss time pe, ya Rahul (Dravid) bhai. Paaji out hote the to fir nikal lete the ghar (we used to watch only Sachin's batting, or Dravid's; but once Sachin got out, we would leave for home)," Raina, who won the 2011 World Cup with Tendulkar, told the Times of India. However, Harbhajan Singh questioned Raina's claim by asking 'how' Suresh can bunk his school to witness a match which started at 4 pm, whereas schools in India don't have classes beyond 2-3 pm. "School bunk how ? That game started at 4 pm indian time I was part of the series," Harbhajan tweeted.

School bunk 🙄😄 how ? That game started at 4 pm indian time 😜I was part of the series https://t.co/JWnZqa2Zl8

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) June 1, 2020

Tendulkar played a brilliant knock in Sharjah, one of the best in his career, but all his heroics went in vain as rest of the Indian team failed miserably and lost the game against Australia 26 runs.