Tendulkar Statue Unveiled At Wankhede Stadium

MUMBAI, (IANS) – Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on November 1 unveiled a gleaming bronze statue of Sachin Tendulkar at the Wankhede Stadium here.

Commissioned by MCA, the statue depicting the cricket icon in his trademark ‘lofted drive’ pose is the first-ever erected for any legend at the 49-year-old Wankhede Stadium and is placed prominently at the Sachin Tendulkar Stand.

It was created by Ahmednagar-based sculptor Pramod Kamble, who said the larger-than-life-size statue stands 14 feet tall.

It is now at a strategic location visible from all sides, just ahead of some of the ICC ODI World Cup matches scheduled here this week.

The selected pose, after scouring thousands of action images of Tendulkar, finally zeroed down to the memorable sixer shot in a lofted drive pose, with his left leg extended, body slightly bent, head high, and the bat pointing at the sky, and the personal approval of the cricketing giant.

Tendulkar, a resident of Bandra, not only played some of his best matches and set or broke many records at the Wankhede Stadium, but it was also the venue for his swansong Test 10 years ago – in November 2013 – before he retired.

Conferred to the Bharat Ratna in 2014, Tendulkar is a veteran of 15,921 runs in 200 Tests, besides amassing 18,426 runs in ODIs.