Will give Sachin a royal adieu, try to bring his family: CAB

Kolkata, Oct 15 (IANS) Gung ho after getting to host the penultimate Test match of batting genius Sachin Tendulkar‘s career, the Cricket Association of Bengal is planning a host of events and invite his family including his mother for the Nov 6-10 Eden Gardens game to make the occasion memorable.

Hours after the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that Tendulkar would play his 199th Test match at the Eden, and the swanswong game against West Indies at Mumbai (Nov 14-18), CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya said all efforts would be made to give Tendulkar a fitting adieu at the iconic ground on behalf of his legions of fans in the city.

“We will meet in a couple of days and chalk out the details. We will plan things so as to make it a memorable occasion for Sachin, the people of Kolkata, as also the game of cricket,” he said.

Dalmiya said Eden would have loved to host Tendulkar’s 200th Test match. “But when his mother desired the game be played in Mumbai, we have to support it.”

“It is a great opportunity for us to host the 199th Test match of his career,” he said.

CAB treasurer Biswarup Dey said: “We may have lost the race for getting Tendulkar’s farewell Test, but we are happy that Sachin has said he considers Eden as his second home after Mumbai.

“This series is special. It is not a series between India and West Indies, but a Sachin series. We will give him a royal felicitation. I am sure Kolkata residents and people of other parts of Bengal will rise to the occasion and give Tendulkar a memorable farewell,” he said.

BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla announced earlier in the day that Tendulkar will be playing his 199th Test match in Kolkata and 200th farewell match in Mumbai as the maestro had written to the BCCI requesting to hold his 200th match in Mumbai.

Between 1993 and 2012, Tendulkar has turned out in 12 Test matches at the Eden Gardens, blazing 862 runs at an average of 47.88. He struck two hundreds, with the highest being 176 against the Caribbeans in 2002.

Last week, Tendulkar announced the two Tests series will bring the curtain down on his illustrious 24-year-long career.

He had retired from ODIs last December. The recently concluded Champions League T20 tournament that Mumbai Indians won was Tendulkar’s last T20 outing.