Sachin Tendulkar, cricket’s most prolific international run-scorer in the world, has decided to retire after playing his 200th test match for India at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, against West Indies this month.
Many are expected to be at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium as it hosts the farewell test for Sachin Tendulkar after the iconic Indian batsman expressed his desire to play his final match against the touring West Indies on his home soil. The bilateral test series between India and the Caribbean side will take place in November, 2013.
Sachin Tendulkar, who is revered as the ‘God’ in India, is world cricket’s most prolific international run-scorer and has a record 100 international centuries to his name. The man has shattered almost every batting record there is to break in the gentlemen’s game and is without doubt India’s most beloved star. Tendulkar, a right handed batsman, has scored a record 15,837 runs to date in Test matches. In one-day internationals, the ‘Master Blaster’, as he is popularly known, amassed 18,426 runs. Tendulkar retired from one day internationals (ODI) in December 2012 and was seen for the last time in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), a Twenty20 competition this season.
Sachin’s last test series has generated massive interest not only in the Indian Subcontinent but also all over the world, wherever the game is played. While the grand Eden Gardens of Kolkata will host the first match of series, it will be the Wankhede Stadium of Mumbai that will be the final battle ground for the legendary cricketer. It is not only the regular public that is incredibly keen to be a witness to Sachin’s swansong, even officials, former players, celebrities and VIPs are expected to be there at the Wankhede. There have also been reports that many former international players and quite a few fans are making their way to India to bid adieu to sport’s most cherished ambassador.
Over the years, Sachin Tendulkar has carried hopes and aspirations of over a billion people; it is time for the country to thank the man for that. As a young member of the team said at the time India won the World Cup 2011, “He has carried the burden of a nation for 21 years, it is time we carried him on our shoulders.” It is time to do exactly that!
Here is the schedule of the series between India and the West Indies:
2013, November 6-10: First Test at Kolkata
2013, November 14-18: Second Test at Mumbai
2013, November 21: First ODI at Kochi
2013, November 24: Second ODI at Visakhapatnam
2013, November 27: Third ODI at Baroda/Kanpur
