Melbourne: India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar’s arrival at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) virtually brought the action in the middle to a standstill for a while. Fans, majority of them being Indians, gave him a standing ovation as his image appeared on the giant scoreboard television.
Tendulkar was seen talking with David Richardson, the ICC Chief Executive, and the crowd kept waving at him. Sporting a lavender coloured shirt and sunglasses he waved back at the spectators. It was his first World Cup as a non-player, after having played in six editions of the World Cup. Many ICC officials were seen in conversation with him since he is also the brand ambassador of the World Cup.
As soon as he arrived at the hotel, news spread like wildfire and many journalists and television reporters rushed to his hotel. A reporter staying in the same hotel managed to reach him and wanted to know if he had any advice for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Tendulkar immediately reminded him that he was in Melbourne not to give any advice. “The team knows what is to be done. My job is to cheer them, something that I’ll be doing at the MCG,” he said.
Tendulkar walked past the MCG museum as he came to the stands. This museum has among its collections, his pullover, Lala Amarnath’s bat from India’s first tour to Australia and Sunil Gavaskar’s cap and bat.
The crowd kept chanting ‘Sachin Sachin’ in unison for a long time and Tendulkar was even seen taking a selfie during the match. It is understood that Tendulkar will be attending an exclusive dinner at Sydney’s most iconic restaurant and that the dinner is priced at 1500 Australian dollars to 3000 each.
Only 60 people will be allowed entry, of which a dozen will be lucky to be on the same table with Tendulkar. He will sign some auction items as well his recently released autobiography. The money raised from the dinner will go to Sachin Foundation. The vision of his Foundation is to see a world free of discrimination of all forms, and its mission is to realise this vision through the tool of education and creating awareness.
