Senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar was today conferred with the Indian Air Force’s honorary rank of Group Captain to honour his cricketing achievements and contribution to the nation. Tendulkar is the first sportsperson to be conferred a rank by IAF and the first personality with no aviation background to receive the honour. The 37-year-old Tendulkar was inducted into the Air Force as its brand ambassador with IAF chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik doing the honours in a glittering ceremony at the Air Force auditorium in New Delhi.
“It’s a great pleasure and honour to be honoured by the IAF. It was wishful thinking and it has come true today.
“I’m extremely proud to be a part of IAF. I want to urge the youth to join air force and serve the nation. So dream, because dreams do come
true,” Tendulkar said after receiving the honour.
“The closest I’ve come to being an air warrior is wearing aviator glasses like fighter pilots… I was scared when I got into a fighter jet in South Africa in 1996, because there was not much room inside it,” said Group Captain Sachin Tendulkar, who was conferred the honorary rank by the chief of air staff, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, in the presence of the marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Arjan Singh.
Tendulkar, who became the first sportsperson to be conferred an honorary rank by the IAF, said, “I would like to bat twice, onc
e from both sides”, when asked whether he would like to captain the armed forces team or Team India, if there was a match between the two.
The cricketing icon will take a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet sortie in November in Pune, after which he
will receive his wings.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Yu4Bxop_Y
The batsman, who was fascinated by movies like Top Gun as a teenager, is the first national with no aviation background to be conferred with an honorary IAF rank, under the government’s policy of 1977 of granting honorary rank by the Indian armed forces to eminent personalities as recognition of their contribution towards the nation or the armed forces. The proposal was put up in January by the IAF, which was approved by president Pratibha Patil on June 23.
A CD was sent to Tendulkar a month prior to the function with images and a video of the IAF salute so that he could learn it for the felicitation ceremony.
“Chase Your Dreams because your Dreams do come true , Jai Hind” – Sachin Tendulkar !
Hi there! I’m Sethu, your go-to guy for all things tech, travel, internet, movies, and business tips. I love sharing insights and stories that make life more interesting. Let’s explore the world together, one article at a time!
Dazzling article . Will definitely copy it to my blog.Thanks.