Sachin Tendulkar's life-sized statue unveiled at Wankhede Stadium on eve of India-Sri Lanka World Cup match

A life-size statue of Sachin Tendulkar was unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday on the eve of the India-Sri Lanka ICC World Cup match. ‘The Master Blaster’, widely considered one of the greatest batters of all time, was present for the unveiling of his statue at the iconic venue where he won his only World Cup triumph 12 years ago and where he also played an emotional farewell match against West Indies in 2013. Tendulkar was accompanied by wife Anjali and daughter Sara at the unveiling, according to a report on News18. Besides the Tendulkars, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, BCCI secretary Jay Shah and vice-president Rajeev Shukla and Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar — who was the BCCI chief during the 2011 World Cup — were also present, as was celebrity fan Sudhir Gautam.

The sculpture, which shows Tendulkar playing a lofted drive down the ground, has fittingly been installed next to the Sachin Tendulkar Stand at Wankhede. It has been designed by Maharashtra-based artist Pramod Kamble.

  “It is indeed a special moment for me. It was around February when Mr Shelar and Mr Kale called me on the behalf of the MCA, they said we are having this thought of having your statue inside the stadium. I was extremely delighted, to be honest. I did not know how to react,” Tendulkar said at the unveiling. “I am truly humbled when I stand here. I go to the ground, there are thousands of images that come to my head and thoughts, so many incredible memories. It is truly an honour to walk on this turf which has given me everything in life,” he added. The batting icon recalled his first-ever visit to the Wankhede Stadium as a 10-year-old, and revealed he entered the venue without a ticket. “My first visit to the Wankhede Stadium was way back in 1983, I was only 10 years old. The West Indies had come to India and this was after the World Cup, the excitement was there. All my colony friends in Bandra, not 10-year-olds but my brother’s friends, possibly 30-40 years old They all decided to go for this match,” he said. “I do not know how it happened but a 10-year-old Sachin was also asked to accompany. I went along with them, we took a train at Bandra, got off at Churchgate and enjoyed the whole game. And by the way, I sat at the North Stand. We all cricketers know what the North Stand can do — when they get behind the team no opposition can stop India and Mumbai,” Tendulkar said. Tendulkar also recalled being part of the famous North Stand Gang, which has its unique place not just in Mumbai but across Indian cricketing folklore. “I was a part of the North Stand gang, I also made a lot of noise, enjoyed the game. (On) my way back home to Bandra and somebody said ‘achcha manage kiya na?’ (We managed it well, no?). There were 25 of us and we only had 24 tickets. I asked how did we manage? The reply came, ‘usko Sachin ko chhupa ke le jana pada’ (we had to hide Sachin between us to taken him inside’,” he said. “Sometimes, being vertically challenged can also work well for you,” quipped Tendulkar. Tendulkar had, in 2009, become the first Indian sportsperson to have a life-sized statue unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London. At the time of his international retirement in 2013, Tendulkar held a plethora of records which included the most runs in both Tests (15,921) and ODIs (18,426) as well as most centuries in both formats — 51 and 49 in Tests and ODIs respectively. He’s the only cricketer in the history of the sport to have a 100 international centuries to his name. His record of 49 ODI tons however, could be equalled by Virat Kohli in the match against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Kohli took his ODI century tally to 48 with his unbeaten 103 against Bangladesh in Pune on 19 October and will hope to collect the 49th also in Maharashtra on Thursday. The Indian batting superstar has played an important role in the Men in Blue’s solid run so far in their home World Cup campaign, having also registered three fifties besides the unbeaten ton including 95 against New Zealand in the very next game. India will hope to become the first team to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals on Thursday. Rohit Sharma’s men are the only remaining unbeaten team so far in the tournament; they’ve won all six of their matches so far, the latest of which came against defending champions England (100 runs) in Lucknow on Sunday. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, are on the verge of elimination after suffering a seven-wicket defeat against Afghanistan in Pune on Monday. The 1996 world champions have just four points in six matches and will need to win each of their remaining matches to have a chance whatsoever, besides depending on other results to go their way as well.