Left embarrassed after Virat Kohli’s prominent advertising billboards overshadowed the retiring Sachin Tendulkar’s pictures, the Mumbai Cricket Association removed the rising star’s hoardings from the Wankhede stadium where the senior batsman led the out Indian team for his 200th and final Test here today.
Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has 51 different pictures of Tendulkar with his Test centuries and names of oppositions inscribed on rectangular billboards, albeit indecipherable, which are put on the perimeter of the Wankhede Stadium roof.
Even though the product of the FMCG company is displayed next to Tendulkar’s hoarding, Kohli’s advertisements, which till yesterday dominated the attention, were missing from the stadium.
Meanwhile, after the toss, the Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal released commemorative postage stamps to pay tribute to the veteran batsman.
The 40-year old batting great is only the second person after Mother Teresa to have a stamp released after him, when he is alive.
During Tendulkar’s 199th Test match at Kolkata, hosts Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) made a few goof ups that included spelling Sachin’s name as ‘Sachine’ and referring to his wife Anjali as ‘Mr’ Anjali Tendulkar.
Tendulkar, on his part, is going about his routine with minimum fuss. He was presented a cap by Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the start of the day.
He led the team out to the field amid loud cheering from the fans, who would have to wait to see him bat as India opted to bowl against the West Indies.