Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar's statue was unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the eve of India's clash against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup 2023.
The life-size statue is a tribute to Tendulkar from the Mumbai Cricket Assocation for his immense contribution to India and world cricket.
Bigwigs from the politics and cricket were present at the iconic venue for the unveil along with Tendulkar and his family.
The statue has been installed at the Sachin Tendulkar stand and overlooks the entire stadium. It has been crafted by Pramod Kamble, a well known painter-sculptor from Ahmednagar.
But while fans were happy that the MCA dedicated a statue to Bharat Ratna Tendulkar, what left them unimpressed was the resemblence it has with Steve Smith instead of the Master Blaster.
Netizens were left confused as many thought that the statue's face looks more like former Australia captain Steve Smith than Tendulkar.
Smith even started trending on X for a while even as Tendulkar came to the Wankhede to cheer for Team India in their seventh match of this World Cup on Thursday.
More about the Tendulkar statue
The MCA is celebrating the golden jubilee year of the Master Blaster and the statue at Wankhede is a part of the celebrations.
The cricket icon's journey started at this stadium under childhood coach Ramakant Achrekar, and it was at the Wankhede where he won the ODI World Cup with India in 2011.
Tendulkar also bid adieu to cricket at the same ground, by playing in his landmark 200th Test against the West Indies in 2013.
