It was boy wizard meeting the batting wizard as Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter on screen, queued for an autograph of Sachin Tendulkar at the end of India's drawn cricket Test match against England.
Since the seventh and final volume of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" hit the stands, the whole world seems under the grip of a "Pottermania" but Potter himself seemed a great fan of the Indian batting maestro as he turned up on the final day of the Lord's Test match.
Michael Vaughan's men, however, could not gift Daniel, who turned 18 yesterday, a birthday gift in the form of an England victory as rain denied the hosts a win that was just one wicket away.
Daniel being a target of autograph hunters worldwide, admitted he queued with other fans to get signatures from Tendulkar and also Andrew Strauss.
Interestingly, Daniel had recently spoken about a nightmare where he found himself stalked by the English opener.
"I was telling people in a recent interview that I had a dream that Andrew Strauss was chasing me with a cricket bat. It was during the West Indies series when Andrew wasn't doing too well and an Australian who was listening in piped up and said 'I wouldn't worry about Strauss, if he had a swing at you at the moment he'd probably miss!'"
The celebrity actor joined BBC's Test Match Special (TMS) team at lunch where he said he got into cricket last year when Ricky Ponting's men wrested the Ashes from the English squad.
"Most people got into cricket when we won the Ashes; I got into it when we were beaten 5-0," he said.
The actor said it was Paul Collingwood's gutsy double century in the Adelaide Test that drew him close to the game.
"It was the celebration when he got to his 200, it was so impassioned. He gave a cry out when he did it - so emotional, almost primeval and a bit scary but really inspirational," he said.
The constant Australian swagger in the series also forced him to root for his countrymen Down Under, Daniel said.
Daniel was presented with a TMS birthday cake and after the match the actor entered the England dressing room and met the players. Strauss obliged him with an autograph and also got one Harry Potter book signed by the actor for his child.
© 2024 Rediff.com -