MUMBAI: Champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar will bow out from the game, which he embellished for close to a quarter of a century, at the Wankhede Stadium by playing his landmark 200th Test match against the West Indies next month.
It was at this very venue that he made his debut in first class cricket.
“Tendulkar had expressed the wish yesterday that he wanted to play his 200th match at his home ground and the BCCI (Cricket Board) 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’s president Ravi Savant.
Savant did not want to go into the details of how 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.
Savant met BCCI chief N Srinivasan, who was at the Board’s headquarters on Friday, before making the announcement ahead of the Programmes and Fixtures committee meeting on October 15 to chalk out the detailed programme of the West Indies tour.
The Caribbean outfit is set to play two Tests, from November 6-10 and November 14-18, as well as three ODIs, on November 21, 24 and 27, during its short tour.
The venue for the first Test and the three subsequent ODIs would be decided by the committee headed by Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday.
The BCCI is also planning a grand farewell for Tendulkar, it is learnt.
The Board had squeezed in the home series against the West Indies to give Tendulkar an opportunity to retire in front of his home fans.
Tendulkar on Thursday announced his decision to retire from Test cricket after playing his landmark match, bringing an end to the intense speculation about his future.
Yuvraj dedicates match-winning knock to Tendulkar
He should have been on cloud nine after smashing a match-winning unbeaten 77 against Australia in the one-off T20 International in his comeback match, but Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh said he had mixed feelings as it came on the day Sachin Tendulkar retired from Test cricket.
An emotional Yuvraj, who guided India to a six-wicket win over Australia here, dedicated his unbeaten innings to Tendulkar. “Well I don’t know if I am happy or sad. Happy that I hit the ball and sad day that Sachin is retiring. But really happy the way I hit the ball and how I continued to play well since the India A and West Indies A series,” Yuvraj said at the post-match press conference.
“Definitely, I would like to dedicate it to Sachin and hopefully, maybe tell him on the phone as well. That is the least I can do, dedicate this knock to him. I will also like to dedicate this knock to my mother who prayed a lot for my comeback. Everyday she has been praying for me,” he said.
Yuvraj said it was an emotional moment for the country when an iconic cricketer like Tendulkar retires and added that he did not want to see him leave the game. (PTI)