India’s Test captain Virat Kohli on Friday shocked everyone when he quashed an appeal made by the cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The Little Master, who was indeed excited by the fact that the young Kohli now owns a Tennis team called the UAE Royals in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). Tennis legend Roger Federer will play for the team that Kohli has stake in, and this certainly excited with the development. When he asked on Friday that he wanted to ‘play’, the Indian cricket star replied in a cheeky way that he was not sure whether Tendulkar had the necessary skills to succeed in that sport.

Mahesh Bhupathi, who is the founder of the league as well as its managing director, on Friday morning informed via Twitter that former India cricketer and the current team director of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, will be the mentor of the UAE Royals team. Bhupathi was qupted as saying by the Times of India said, “The owners have also brought on Shastri as a mentor-cum-advisor. He is close to Kohli and has been working with the youngsters in the Indian team.” Talking about the development, Kohli said, “I have always followed tennis with great interest and today I am glad to be part of a professional tennis league team.”