Chants of 'Sachin, Sachin' fill Wankhede stadium at the unveiling of Tendulkar's statue

Tendulkar turned nostalgic at the event. He recalled how his friends and elders from the Bandra housing society where he lived wanted to watch the India versus West Indies ODI game at the Wankhede Stadium in 1983. Tendulkar was only 10 then. He remembered boarding the local train from Bandra to Churchgate without a ticket. The group of 25 people sat in the North Stand.

“We all cricketers know what the North Stand can do… when they get behind the team, no opposition can stop India and Mumbai. We decided to take a train to reach the Wankhede Stadium. I was a part of the North Stand gang, I also made a lot of noise, enjoyed the game. Later after the game, when 25 of us boarded the train, someone said, ‘acha manage kiya? Someone asked, ‘kya manage kiya?' he replied, we had only 24 tickets and Sachin ko chup chap andar ghusaya,” Tendulkar told the newspaper.

He also recalled his first inter-school game at the Wankhede Stadium. “When I first entered the Wankhede Stadium, Sunil Gavaskar showed me the dressing room. The following year, I was picked for the Ranji Trophy team and as I entered the dressing room I was wondering where to sit as Mumbai had established players. I saw one empty chair in the corner and I went and sat there. Then someone told me, this is SMG’s seat (Gavaskar’s),” Tendulkar said.

“The Little Master” said he felt “truly humbled” to be at Wankhede stadium again.

The sculpture was built by Pramod Kamble, a painter and sculptor from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.

Sachin Tendulkar retired at the Wankhede Stadium, marking his 200th and final test match against the West Indies in 2013.

Among other notable guests were Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis. The cricketing world was well-represented with key figures from the BCCI making their presence felt, including Secretary Jay Shah and Treasurer Ashish Shelar.