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.

Sachin Tendulkar arrives for statue unveil. Accompanying him is wife Anjali and daughter Sara. @cricketnext pic.twitter.com/m5r5iy2nve

— Sahil Malhotra (@Sahil_Malhotra1) November 1, 2023

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.

Sachin…Sachin… The Statue is inaugurated at Wankhede ⁦@sachin_rt⁩ ⁦@100MasterBlastr⁩ pic.twitter.com/Q8E46miSC0

— Sachin Tendulkar Fan Club (@OmgSachin) November 1, 2023

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.