The Sydney Cricket Ground honoured Legendary cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara on the former's 50th Birthday on April 24. The iconic Australian venue unveiled gates named after former Indian player Tendulkar and his good friend and former West Indies cricketer Lara. Tendulkar and Lara have become the first non-Australian players to have their names etched at a set of gates at SCG.
The gates are located between the Member's Pavilion's away dressing room and the Noble Bradman Messenger Stand and will be used access to the field of play for the visiting players. The Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has a fabulous record at SCG which is his favourite venue outside India. In the five Test matches that Tendulkar played at the venue, he scored 785 runs at a whopping average of 157, with 3 hundred and 2 fifties to his name. He also has a double-ton at the venue, an unbeaten 241-run knock at SCG in 2004.
Notably, the first visiting team to walk through the gates is likely to be Pakistan, who will play their annual New Year's Test in Sydney early next year. The Indian team might get a chance to walk through it a year after.
On being honoured, Tendulkar said, "The Sydney Cricket Ground has been my favourite ground away from India. I have had some great memories at the SCG right from my first tour of Australia in 1991-92. It is a great honour to have the gates used by all visiting cricketers to access the field of play at the SCG named after me and my good friend Brian."
"I would like to thank the team at the SCG and Cricket Australia and for this kind gesture. I look forward to visiting the SCG soon," he added. Meanwhile, Lara also has wonderful memories at SCG. He has scored 384 runs in 4 games at an average of 54.84. Lara also made a score of 277 at the venue.
Meanwhile, Lara said, "I'm deeply honoured to be recognised at the Sydney Cricket Ground, as I'm sure Sachin is. The ground holds many special memories for me and my family and I always enjoy visiting whenever I'm in Australia."
