Mumbai (Maharashtra):A life-size statue of cricket icon and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar was unveiled at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, his home ground, on Wednesday.
The statue sculpted by Pramod Kale was unveiled in a gala ceremony in the presence of Sachin Tendulkar himself. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, and Maharashtra Sports Minister Sanjay Bansode among other bigwigs were also present on the occasion.
A host of Mumbai Cricket Association officials including President Amol Kale, Vice President Sanjay Naik, Secretary Ajinkya Naik and other officers bearers including Deepak Patil, Armaan Malik, Milind Narvekar, and Vihang Sarnaik were also present on the historic occasion. The statue of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar comes beside the Sachin Tendulkar Stand inside the Wankhede Stadium and was unveiled on the eve of the India versus Sri Lanka ICC Cricket World Cup match.
Wankhede has always been a special place for the cricket icon, who lifted the ODI 2011 World Cup Trophy here and has many other memories associated with it. Tendulkar also bid adieu to his illustrious career at the Stadium in November 2013 after playing his 200th Test match against West Indies. Tendulkar was born and brought up in Mumbai and made runs all across the globe at the iconic Cricket Grounds, but Wankhede always remained special for the batting great.
Tendulkar was brought up at the Sahitya Sahwas in suburban Bandra and his father, late Ramesh Tendulkar, was a noted Marathi writer. Tendulakar's wife Anjali and his daughter Sara were also present on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, Tendulkar said it was a special moment for him. "I was extremely delighted when MCA officials called me stating that they wanted to make my statue," he said.
"I am truly humbled. When I go to the ground, many memories come to my mind. It is a tribute by MCA to me," Tendulkar added. The batting great recalled his first visit to Wankhede for the India vs West Indies match in 1985 when he was 10 years old.
"I enjoyed the game while sitting in the North Stand," he said. "After that, I played at the Wankhede Stadium, where we played the Harris Shield final. I figured out there were many more gaps at the Wankhede Stadium. I realised there were only nine fielders on the ground. I was selected as a Ball Boy for the 1987 World Cup and Sunil Gavaskar invited me to the dressing room where I met other players. I was 14 then and it was a huge thing. Next year, I played for Mumbai," he recalled.
Sachin Tendulkar said playing for Mumbai was a huge honour and playing for India was equally important. He also recalled the last day of his international career at the Wankhede. "The happiest day was in 2011, when we lifted that (World Cup) Trophy. My preparation for the 2011 World Cup started in 2007," the Master Blaster said. He also revealed the reasons behind refusing to take up the captaincy in 2007.