Sachin Tendulkar continues to make news even when he is away from the spotlights and the floodlights. First it was his back injury which kept the media hounds on his trail. And now it's a minor car accident involving the Little Champion which sent the city's rumour-mongerers on an overdrive.
Tendulkar and his wife Anjali were in their Opel when a car coming from the opposite direction banged into their vehicle near their residence in Bandra (East) in North-West Mumbai today. Both escaped unhurt.
Dr Anjali Tendulkar recollected the incident : ``It was a minor accident which happened at a traffic signal near our residence (Kala Nagar in Bandra, East) when a young girl driving a Maruti 800 broke the signal and banged into our Opel.... Nobody was hurt and you can be assured that Sachin is absolutely fine.''
Three police points around the area of the accident -- Kherwadi, Nirmal Nagar and North West Police control -- said that no complaint was lodged and had no clue about the accident.
Though the mishap was minor, the incident triggered off a tidal wave of rumours. The Indian Express office here was flooded with calls from frantic Tendulkar fans. ``I have heard that Sachin's car was blown away by a bomb. Is it true?'' asked one concerned fan. Perhaps the bomb theory had its roots in the crude time-bomb found by the police at Nagpada earlier in the day. Another caller ``informed'' the paper that Tendulkar had suffered multiple fractures in an accident, but wanted to know if he was out of danger. ``Where has he been admitted?,'' she asked. A third caller was worried about Tendulkar's availability for the World Cup after he had learnt that Tendulkar's driving had left two dead!