The lackluster performance of Team India against
England and then the appalling show it put up in the tri-nation series
has unthought-of fallout besides being taken on by the cricket lovers at
home. Its skipper Mahinder Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar were set to
fly in Indian Air Force (IAF) frontline fighter jet, but the flight has
now been put on hold.
Dhoni, a
known speed junkie owning more than a dozen high speed bikes in his
personal garage, after the cricket team’s world cup win had met then IAF
chief Air Chief Marshal PV Naik and had expressed his desire to fly in
the winged beauty. Also the “master-blaster” Tendulkar was given the
honorary rank of Group Captain by the IAF in 2010, a first for any
sportsperson in the country.
After
seeing the VVIPs like Ratan Tata, former president APJ Kalam and
President Pratibha Patil, the country was gearing up to see both the
batsmen don flying suits get into the rear seats of the one of the best
fighter aircraft of IAF.
Sources
in the IAF told the Sunday Standard: “We were planning the sorties this
year as and when the cricketers get time from their busy schedules. But
considering the poor spell for the Indian team we think the time is not
ripe for the sorties. The proposal has gone into cold-storage.”
The purpose of the proposed sorties was to increase awareness about the force.
The
Defence Ministry had provided clearance for the sorties for both the
sportspersons in 2011 after IAF sought special permission. The duo was
supposed to undertake the flight at Pune’s Lohegaon Air Force Station
where the two squadrons of the air-dominance Sukhoi fighter jets are
based.
Incidentally, IAF had also
included a photograph of Tendulkar in its official calendar for 2011.
Tendulkar was posing in front of a Sukhoi jet in a fighter pilot’s gear.
The last VIP to fly in a Sukhoi Su-30MKI was President Pratiba Patil on November 25, 2009.
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