Tendulkar to bid goodbye in Mumbai at Wankhede

mangaloretoday.com

Mumbai, Oct 11, 2013, DHNS:  The BCCI on Friday granted Sachin Tendulkar his wish to play his 200th and farewell Test in Mumbai even as accolades continued to pour in for the Little Master from around the world.

Kolkata and Mumbai were the frontrunners to host the Test but the legendary batsman had expressed his desire to play the 200th Test in Mumbai.  “Tendulkar had expressed the wish on Thursday that he wanted to play his 200th match at his homeground and the BCCI on Friday acceded to his request and has decided that the Test will be held at the Wankhede Stadium from November 14-18,” said Mumbai Cricket Association president Ravi Savant.

 

Savant did not want to go into the details of how the MCA persuaded BCCI to allot the game to its home venue, amidst reports that the Cricket Club of India, BCCI’s second affiliated unit in the city, also wanted to host the match.

“I don’t want to go into the details. Suffice it to say that the match would be held at the Wankhede Stadium,” Savant told reporters.

The first Test will be played November 6-10. The West Indies will also play three ODIs slated for November 21, November 24 and November 27.

The venue for the first Test and the three subsequent ODIs would be decided by BCCI’s Tour and Fixtures Committee headed by Rajiv Shukla on Tuesday.

Shukla said the Board is planning a grand farewell for the Little Master.

Meanwhile, the cricketing world rose as one to pay tributes to the maestro, with papers in England and Australia describing him as a ‘super hero’ and a ‘super human.’ His sheer longevity came in for special praise from the columnists. The Daily Telegraph stated that Tendulkar and Don Bradman remained two of the game’s greatest batsmen.

Cricketing greats also saluted the master, with English legend Geoffrey Boycott saying Tendulkar had chosen the right time to call it quits.

“His legacy to cricket is more important than playing on for another year or two. That would not have enhanced his reputation. It would only swell his bank balance and he does not need any more money because he is already one of the richest cricketers ever,” Boycott said.