The God of Indian cricket is getting his own life-size statue. Ten years post Sahin Tendular’s retirement from crocket in all forms, Mumbai’s iconic Wankhade Stadium will install his life-sized statue. This stadium is also where he played his last game before retirement. The authorities are hoping to unveil the statue on Tendulkar’s 50th birthday which is April 23.
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president Amol Kale told The Indian Express that the first statue of the Bharat Ratna in the stadium is a token of appreciation by MCA for his sportsmanship and the glories he had brought to Indian Cricket. Tendulkar already has a stand named after him at the stadium that has witnessed some of his best innings.
Last year MCA decided to honour former Indian captain and cricket commentator Sunil Gavaskar with a corporate box. Former skipper Dilip Vengsarkar also has a stand named after him here.
There are three separate such statues of former big-hitting India great C K Nayudu at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, VDCA Stadium in Andhra and Holkar Stadium in Indore. The Melbourne Cricket Ground has a statue of legendary Australian leg-spin bowler Shane Warne. In 2011, he said it was a great honour to have his statue displayed there. He also noted that the 300-kilo statue was like a life-like replica of him.
Several wax statues of former players have been placed in state associations. Some of these have also been displayed at London’s famous wax museum, Madame Tussauds.
In his career, which spanned over two decades, Sachin Tendulkar scored over 34,357 runs in international cricket. He played 200 Test matches and 463 One-Day Internationals.