Sachin Tendulkar's Statue To Be Unveiled at Wankhede Stadium

On Wednesday, ahead of the World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka, a life-size statue of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar will be unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The statue depicts Tendulkar in motion, playing a stroke, and is placed next to the Sachin Tendulkar stand. 

• The inauguration ceremony will be attended by several dignitaries, including Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, treasurer Ashish Shelar, and officials from the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). 
• President Amol Kale, secretary Ajinkya Naik, and other members of the apex council will also be present. 
• The statue has been created by Pramod Kamble, a painter-sculptor from Ahmednagar in the state. 
• It has been installed nearly a decade after Tendulkar's last game for India in Mumbai against the West Indies in a two-match Test series in November 2013.

Achievements of Sachin Tendulkar

• Sachin Tendulkar is a highly celebrated cricketer not only in India but worldwide. He received the Arjuna Award in 1994, Khel Ratna in 1997, Padma Shri in 1998 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008. 
• Furthermore, he is the only sportsperson to have been conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2013. Tendulkar made his debut for India at the tender age of 16 and holds numerous records across all formats of the game. 
• He is the only player to score 100 international tons, the first batsman to score a double century in an ODI, holds the record for the highest number of runs in both ODI and Test cricket, and is the only player to have completed more than 30,000 runs in international cricket. 
• He retired in 2013 at his home ground of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Since then, he has published his autobiography titled 'Playing it My Way' and has been actively involved in various philanthropic efforts.

Matches at Wankhede Stadium

• The Wankhede Stadium hosted its first Test match during the 1974-75 season when West Indies toured India. In that game, Clive Lloyd scored an unbeaten 242 runs while India lost by 201 runs in Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi's last game. The match was also marked by a crowd disturbance after a fan rushed onto the field to greet Lloyd and was handled roughly by the police.
• India's first victory at the venue was against New Zealand, two seasons later. Some great innings have been played at this stadium, such as Sunil Gavaskar's 205 against the West Indies and Alvin Kallicharan 187 in the same game during the 1978-79 series. 
• The all-round heroics by Ian Botham, who scored a century and took 13 wickets in the Jubilee Test in 1980, which England won by 10 wickets, were also witnessed at this stadium.
• Vinod Kambli's 224 against England in 1992-93, in only his third Test, remains the highest score by an Indian at the Wankhede Stadium. Also, Ravi Shastri's six sixes in an over of Baroda's Tilak Raj en route to the then fastest double-hundred in first-class cricket was on this ground in 1984-85.
• The stadium's seaside location means that swing bowlers get a fair amount of assistance during the early part of each day and again in the final session when the sea breeze sets in. However, after the stands were rebuilt ahead of the 2011 World Cup, these effects reduced somewhat. 
• The pitch at Wankhede Stadium is known for being batsman-friendly, but the red soil offers some assistance to spinners during the final days of a five-day game. 
• During the 2005 Test against Australia, the ball spun viciously from the beginning and, combined with low bounce, helped India secure a victory in under three days, despite losing almost a whole day to rain. The stands at the stadium are named after legendary Mumbai cricketers, including Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, and Sachin Tendulkar.