Saturday, Nov 09, 2013
Kolkata: The ‘City of Joy’ plunged into gloom as Sachin Tendulkar walked away from the Eden Gardens for the last time. After the initial euphoria of India’s victory over West Indies, the reality sunk in: some fans were in tears as Tendulkar waved at them and bid goodbye.
With the match ending in three days, thousands of fans who had brought tickets for Saturday and Sunday were denied the opportunity to watch the legend in action. The plans of the Cricket Association of Bengal (Cab) to give Tendulkar a memorable send-off also crashed as the plan of showering 199 kilogrammes of rose petals from three planes on the last day was also ruined.
Some fans expressed their anger at West Indies and one even commented, “The BCCI should have invited a stronger team.”
A Cab official was heard saying: “If we could have had at least one hour of play on the fourth day, we could have shifted all plans from the last day.”
To this comment, a journalist said, “Only fools would think that West Indies can last all five days, especially after seeing how the wicket behaved.”
The farewell function was to be attended by Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.
Fortunately for the Cab officials, the state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cancelled all her programmes and came for the presentation ceremony on Friday.
Banerjee presented one of her own paintings and a turban and placed a silk shawl around Tendulkar. She told him, “You are a favourite of the people of this city. They adore you. Please come regularly once you retire.”
Sourav Ganguly placing the turban on Tendulkar’s head and hugging him is the lead picture on front pages of all the newspapers here. A banyan tree with 199 gold leaves was presented by Jagmohan Dalmiya, president of Cab.
The legendary Caribbean Brian Lara was also planning to watch the last two days of the match, but his team’s poor show upset his plans. Photographers were gearing up to take pictures of the two contenders for the best batsman’s throne together at the Eden Gardens, but the opportunity now shifts to Mumbai.
The crowd and Cab officials wanted Tendulkar to do a round of the ground, but he said he would keep it for Mumbai. He gifted the Team India shirt he wore on the final day and his gloves to the Cab museum. Tendulkar was showered with so many gifts that he requested Cab officials to send them to his Bandra home.
The main bunch of balloons with Tendulkar’s portrait turned so heavy that it refused to take off until Ganguly and Tendulkar gave it a push. Someone from the crowd shouted: “Sachin... even the balloons don’t want to leave you!”
By K.R. Nayar Chief Cricket Writer
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
