Mumbai: Sachin Tendulka is set to bid farewell to international cricket at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, his home ground. The news comes a day after Tendulkar announced he will retire after his 200th Test, which is set to be the second of the Tests against West Indies next month, to be played from November 14.
“Tendulkar had expressed the wish yesterday that he wanted to play his 200th match at his home ground,” Mumbai Cricket Association president Ravi Savant said, “and the BCCI today acceded to his request and has decided that the Test will be held at the Wankhede Stadium from November 14-18.”
A final decision on the venue will be taken when the BCCI’s tour, fixtures and programme committee meets on Tuesday.
It is understood that even before Tendulkar announced his retirement plans, Kolkata’s Eden Gardens had been promised it would get to host Tendulkar’s 200th Test. The deal is said to be a bargain for Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya pulling out of the race to be the IPL chairman at the BCCI’s annual general meeting on September 29. However, according to CAB treasurer Biswarup Dey, CAB will definitely “honour” Tendulkar’s request.
“If Sachin has requested it, CAB won’t unnecessarily push for staging the match and honour the legend’s wish,” Dey said.
The BCCI follows a rotation policy among its 10 Test venues for staging matches. According to the rotation policy, Ahmedabad and Bangalore were to host the next two matches. However, with the significance of these two Tests, the tour, fixtures and programme committee headed by BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla may break the rotation policy and instead award the two matches to Kolkata and Mumbai.
