An ardent Sachin Tendulkar fan here has made at his own expense a mini gold replica of the cricket World Cup that the Indian cricket team won, and is waiting for the chance to hand over the memento to the batting maestro.

Mr Ganesan, a 33-year-old goldsmith, said the replica of the coveted trophy is made of 230 milligram of pure gold and has a height of 10.25 millimeter (slightly over 1 cm). The replica has all the designs of the original Cup exquisitely engraved on it, he said.

A jewel-maker from the nearby Nedumangadu, Mr Ganesan has been a great admirer of Tendulkar.

“I was quite sure India would bring back the prestigious Cup after a gap of 28 years and Sachin would be the pillar of that historic victory. So, I decided to create a small replica of the original World Cup as a gift to Sachin and had started the work before the begining of the tournament,” Mr Ganesan told PTI.

Long-cherished wish

“It is my long-cherished wish to meet the ‘master blaster' and hand over my humble gift to him,” he said.

Mr Ganesh said before beginning his work, he collected the details and peculiarities of the World Cup trophy from the internet. He started making the model based on its picture he downloaded from a Sports Web site.

“Gold at my disposal and morsels of the yellow metal left over while making ornaments went into making the cup,” Mr Ganesan said.

He said he hopes he can hand over his ‘World Cup' when Tendulkar visits Kerala to play in the IPL matches.

Mr Ganesan said he had also sought the help of Mr Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, to get a chance to meet Tendulkar at his residence in Mumbai if it is not possible to present the gift at Kochi.