New Delhi, Dec. 20: The Indian Air Force, which had conferred the honorary rank of Group Captain on Sachin Tendulkar earlier this year, is likely to offer the batting maestro to fly its frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft after his return from South Africa.
“Now the (India-South Africa) cricket series is going on. We will discuss this (Sachin’s Sukhoi flight) after the series,” IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik told reporters on the sidelines of an event here. He was replying to a question on when and where Sachin would fly the Sukhoi as desired by him when he was conferred the honorary rank of Group Captain in Delhi a couple of months ago.
Naik also congratulated Sachin on scoring his career’s 50th Test century at Centurion on Sunday. “He is a great cricketer of our times. His 50th century has come because of his own capabilities as a cricketer and also our best wishes are with him,” he said when asked for comments on the record Sachin set at Centurion by becoming the first cricketer ever to score 50 centuries in test cricket.
Su-30MKI is the top of the line 4.5 generation fighter jet in IAF's fleet. These are the Indian-made aircraft with Russian technology transfer.