Sachin Tendulkar recalls making ‘one request’ to BCCI chief on farewell Test for mother’s sake

Legendary Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday recalled an emotional tale about his farewell Test during the 50th anniversary of Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, where he requested the Indian cricket board to schedule it at the venue so that his mother could watch him play.

Speaking at the venue, Tendulkar reflected on the emotional final day of the Test match against the West Indies. He also stated that he would never forget the iconic ‘Sachin, Sachin’ chants.

Elaborating more, Tendulkar stated he made a personal request to the then BCCI president, N. Srinivasan. He expressed his gratitude to him for the opportunity to have his mother watch him play international cricket for the first time, as his mother had never watched him play live from the stadium until his final Test.

“Before the series was announced, I got in touch with the BCCI and made one request. I asked that I wanted my last match to be held in Mumbai for one reason: I played cricket for so many years—24 years for India, and nearly 30 years overall. But my mother had never seen me play. At that time (during the farewell Test), my mother’s health was not good. She could not travel anywhere other than Wankhede to watch me play. I wanted her to see why I have been moving to different places for 24 years. The BCCI very graciously accepted that request,” ANI quoted Tendulkar as saying.

The ‘Master Blaster’ played his farewell Test between November 14 and 16 at the Wankhede Stadium against West Indies, where India defeated the guests by an innings and 126 runs in that Test. In his final innings, Tendulkar had scored 74 runs, as India posted 495 runs after centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma.

Recalls emotional moment:

Recalling emotional moments from the last day of his Test career, Sachin said he was unaware if the producer of the broadcast was working against him, as he was showing visuals of his emotional family, including his mother, while he was batting in the middle.

“When I went in to bat on the first day, it was towards the end of play. When I walked out to bat, the West Indies players gave me a lot of respect. The crowd gave me a very good reception. I was a bit emotional. My eyes were tearing up, but I had to focus. I had to bat. But, just before the last over, I saw the big screen at the stadium. There was a close-up frame of my mother. She didn’t realise that she was being shown on the big screen. I was thinking if all these shots were necessary because it was the last six balls of the day,” Tendulkar said.

“I doubted the director of the broadcast had a West Indies passport because I thought he was acting in favour of the West Indies. He was playing with my emotions,” he added.

Sachin’s Test stats:

Sachin Tendulkar played 200 Test matches for India, where he scored 15,921 runs, which remains the world record for the most runs in a career in the traditional format. Tendulkar finished with 51 centuries and 68 fifties.

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