In a first, Sachin Tendulkar rings the bell at Brabourne Stadium
In yet another milestone of sorts for Sachin Tendulkar, the Master Blaster became the first to ring the bell at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai to signal the start of the fourth ODI between India and West Indies on Monday.
Tendulkar was invited by the Cricket Club of India (CCI) to ring the bell - a custom which has been started on the lines of the Lord's Cricket Ground in London and is also practiced at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Incidentally, the CCI had to alter their rules to hand Tendulkar the playing membership. At 15, Tendulkar was under-aged to have the membership which would only be given to players aged 18 or above. Even to enter the dressing room, one has to 18.
A kind of firsts here at CCI as the Master Blaster @sachin_rt rings the bell before the start of play today 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/GsIaaQRIKH
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 29, 2018
Tendulkar's son Arjun now plays for the club.
Earlier this year, Tendulkar was invited to ring the ceremonial bell at Lord's on the opening day of the second Test between England and India. However, he missed the opportunity after the day got washed out.
The batting legend, who scored over 18,000 international runs and slammed 100 international hundreds, retired from the game in 2013.