'It's Fantastic': Rohit Sharma Reacts After Sachin Tendulkar's Statue Unveiled at Wankhede Stadium

On the eve of the ODI World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka, a life-size statue of India batting great Sachin Tendulkar was unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated the sculpture on Wednesday, in the presence of several dignitaries from the BCCI.

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Tendulkar, accompanied by his family members, was present at the glittery inauguration ceremony.

During a media interaction before the Sri Lanka game, India captain Rohit Sharma was asked if he and other teammates got to see the statue of the Indian icon.

In response, the India captain said that he managed to have a look at the statue during a practice session but could not have a close view of it.

“Yes, we saw it when we came to practice, but couldn’t see from close by. Our practice was also delayed by the media manager (laughs). But yeah, we will get to see it closely later. I haven’t yet seen what shot is that,” Rohit Sharma told the media.

The statue has been placed close to a stand, which is also named after Sachin Tendulkar. It celebrates the legendary batter’s 50 years of life.

Tendulkar rang in his 50th birthday earlier this year on April 24.

Pramod Kamble, a painter-sculptor from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar, was the main architect of the statue.

It features the Master Blaster in the act of playing a pitch-perfect lofted drive over the long-on region.

Members of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) went through thousands of action images of the legendary batter before finalising this particular pose, which also got a thumbs-up from Tendulkar himself.

Rohit also loved the posture as he said, “What more can I say, they have made a statue of straight lofted shot. It’s nice, I hope you guys enjoyed it, we saw the statue, it’s fantastic.”

A sizeable crowd was present at the Wankhede Stadium to enjoy the event.

Sports Minister Sanjay Bansode and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar were also present at the event.

Other prominent personalities who graced the inauguration ceremony included BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, Vice-President Rajeev Shukla, MCA President Amol Kale and Secretary Ajinkya Naik.

Tendulkar, who donned the Indian jersey for a period of over two decades, played his last match at Wankhede in November 2013. It was the final Test of a two-series tournament against the West Indies. Tendulkar scored 74 runs off 118 balls during India’s first innings.