The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is set to reveal a statue honouring the cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday, November 1, at his beloved home ground, Wankhede Stadium. The Wankhede Stadium has always held a special place in Tendulkar's heart, and the life-size statue of the cricket icon, who boasts a remarkable career with 200 Test matches and incredible records of 15,921 Test runs and 18,426 ODI runs, will be unveiled on the eve of the India-Sri Lanka ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match. Tendulkar himself will be present at the unveiling ceremony.
The finishing touches are currently being applied to the statue, which is located near the Sachin Tendulkar Stand at Wankhede Stadium and is dedicated to celebrating 50 years of his life, as he celebrated his 50th birthday in April this year. The statue will be unveiled on November 1, with the presence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
It's worth noting that Tendulkar bid farewell to his illustrious cricket career at Wankhede Stadium, where a stand is dedicated in his name. He played his 200th and final Test match at Wankhede in November 2013.
Shifting the focus to India's performance in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 tournament, the host team have been in exceptional form, winning six consecutive matches as they aim to secure their first Cricket World Cup trophy since 2011 when the event was last hosted in India.
The Indian team have shown great prowess, particularly when they have been bowling first, setting challenging or moderate targets for their star-studded batting line-up to chase down. Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma, known for their skills in chasing targets, have led India to five second-inning victories, including a thrilling match against New Zealand that was won with just four wickets and two overs to spare.
On the other hand, the 1996 champions, Sri Lanka, faced a setback with their loss to Afghanistan, leaving them with little margin for error. To have any hope of reaching the semi-finals, Sri Lanka will likely need to win all three of their remaining matches, including a challenging encounter against the tournament hosts, India.