Widely regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, Sachin Tendulkar’s life-size statue was inaugurated at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 1).
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde unveiled the radiant bronze statue in a grand ceremony, where Tendulkar and his family members were also present.
Other eminent personalities who graced the occasion are – Sports Minister Sanjay Bansode, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla, BCCI Secretary Jai Shah, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President Amol Kale, Secretary Ajinkya Naik, and various other BCCI and MCA officials.
The statue, capturing the legendary batter playing a stroke, is placed adjacent to the Sachin Tendulkar stand.
With this honour, Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) celebrated the Golden Jubilee year of the batting maestro. Tendulkar turned 50 in April of this year.
“Tendulkar is a Bharat Ratna and everyone knows what he has contributed to cricket. As he turns 50, it will be a small token of appreciation from the Mumbai Cricket Association,” MCA president Amol Kale had told The Indian Express in February 2023.
The statue has been manufactured by Pramod Kamble, a well-known artist from Mahrashtra’s Ahmednagar district.
The selected pose was finalized after scouring thousands of action images of Sachin Tendulkar. The statue shows the cricket icon in a lofted drive pose with his head high and the bat pointing at the sky. This pose had the personal approval of Tendulkar.
In a career spanning 24 years, Sachin Tendulkar represented India in 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, scoring the world record number of runs (15921 in Tests and 18426 in ODIs) and centuries (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs).
