The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has granted Sachin Tendulkar's wish to play his last and 200th Test, before his home crowd in Mumbai though Wankhede Stadium is not supposed to host the match according to the rotational policy of the board.
BCCI's Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee on Tuesday announced the itinerary of West Indies' tour of India after a meeting, ensuring that Tendulkar plays his last match at home.
Kolkata's Eden Gardens will host the first Test against West Indies from 6-10 November, and the second Test will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from 14-18 November. The second Test will mark Tendulkar's 200th Test match before bidding adieu to all forms of cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar had expressed his wish to play his last Test match before the home crowd at Wankhede Stadium, where he made his first class cricket debut. The matches were supposed to be played at Bangalore and Ahmedabad if BCCI is to go by its rotational policy.
The craze for the 40-year-old batting maestro's last international cricket game seems to have reached a fever pitch weeks before the match.
"The demand for tickets is similar to what we saw during the 2011 World Cup final (which India won beating Sri Lanka on April 2)," MCA source was quoted as saying by Mid-Day. The tabloid also reported quoting a source that "nearly 50 calls were received daily at the reception about availability and sale of tickets for the game, even before the announcement was made."
Sachin Tendulkar, who has scored 15, 837 runs from 198 Test matches, announced on 10 October that he would retire from all forms of cricket after his 200th Test. He has broken many records, including the highest run-getter in both Tests and ODIs, 100 international hundreds (51 Tests centuries and 49 ODI). He is the first man to hit a double hundred in ODI and several others during his illustrious career spanning two decades.
Video: Sachin Tendulkar to play his 200th test at Wankhede
