A grand statue of India's legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been unveiled at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai ahead of India's upcoming World Cup clash versus Sri Lanka. The statue has been built adjacent to the Sachin Tendulkar Stand inside the stadium and portrays the 'Master Blaster' in what can be presumed a lofted straight drive.
The event was graced by the presence of several dignitaries including Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah, Maharashtra's Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Vice-President of the BCCI Rajeev Shukla among others. The statue has been designed by Pramod Kamble, a renowned painter and sculptor hailing from the Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.
Notably, Sachin played the last international game of his playing career at the Wankhede Stadium in front of a packed house in November 2013. He scored a match-winning fifty (74 off 118 balls) against the West Indies and helped India win the clash by an innings and 126 runs.
Even after almost 10 years of retirement, Sachin holds some major records in the sport. He is the leading run-getter (18426) in ODIs and Tests (15921 runs). The 50-year-old also holds the record of scoring the most number of centuries in ODIs and Tests. The former right-handed batter scored 49 ODI tons and 51 hundreds in the longest format of the sport.
While most of his records seem safe at the moment, Virat Kohli is on the cusp of equalling Sachin's record of scoring most ODI hundreds. Virat has scored 48 centuries in the 50-over format and will be in action on Thursday, November 2 as India are all set to take on Sri Lanka in the 33rd match of the ongoing World Cup at the Wankhede itself.
India have already won six out of six games in the ongoing edition and a victory against the Lankan Lions will take them into the semis.
