And when Sachin gave his farewell speech, in 2013, without mentioning his name, Kambli said, “I am deeply hurt. I was expecting my name to be part of his farewell speech. If anything for our famous partnership.”

That famous partnership of 664 runs happened way back in 1988. A partnership between two friends who rose to prominence overnight.

But despite sharing that partnership, their success stories weren’t similar. Sachin became Sachin, while Kambli’s career took a bad turn and he could never really find his way back. Not very long after that, he started hinting at how others – including his dear friend – were to blame for his downfall.

But after all these years, with more of downs than ups, the duo seemed to have finally buried the hatchet. Sachin and Kambli were both invited to Rajdeep Sardesai’s book launch, where they greeted each other with open arms.

“Yes, everything is fine between us and I’m happy with it. We hugged each other. We want to tell people that we’re back. It was mutual, and I’m very glad about it,” Kambli told TOI.

Kambli used Twitter to tell the world that he loves Sachin.

He also told Indian cricket fans how this was their first selfie together.

And he paid tribute to their friendship.

Fans joined in too.

Takes you back to the time when they were on the pitch together, two youngsters trying to make a name for themselves. Friends first, teammates later. It has been almost 30 years since that grand partnership.

Their relationship eventually stood the test of time. It was wonderfully nostalgic to see the two together again, as friends.