Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had felicitated India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar who will be playing his final match against West Indies from Nov 14-18 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Being Sachin
Tendulkar’s home association , they paid
tribute to the batting icon by renaming the MCA Sports Complete at
Kandivali as the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, in Mumbai, on Monday.
Speaking at the event sachin said “My association with Mumbai
cricket started almost 29 years ago when I represented Mumbai in the
Under-15 tournament and from there on it has been a fantastic journey.
Talking about the facilities he got from MCA through out his career he added "Whenever
I wanted to practice, wherever I wanted to practice MCA made sure that I
had the right facilities, the right pitches, the right bowlers to
practice, to prepare myself for first the junior level to play for
Mumbai and then go on to achieve my dream of playing for India. To play
for India has been truly memorable.,”
"Talking about the MCA club,
a few years you didn’t have the MCA BKC club and practicing during
monsoon was tough because there were no indoor nets so I used to
actually go out in the playgrounds and practice even when it was
raining. In the rain it was lot of fun and my friends would get together
and practice."
"In the past few years when the MCA BKC facility
was built, a beautiful indoor facility is available to us anytime. Here I
want to again thank MCA for making the nets available to me at any odd
hour, all I had to do is make one phone call and say that I am coming
down and the nets were ready for me. Without the preparation, things
would not have been the same," he said.
"To play for India has been
truly memorable. I think every step was different and every tour
required different kind of preparations."
"Thank
you very much for all the respect, all the care, all the love you have
showered me with. I really appreciate not just this evening but the last
24 years," he said.
Chief Minister Chavan also paid rich tribute to Tendulkar and said he will presence on the field.
"Sachin
is one of the greatest Indian, a great sportsperson and a great hero.
He has given India years and years of sporting pleasure. He is admired
not only here but all over the world. We all rejoice his success. I am
sure Test cricket will miss him," he said.
Picture of event:
classvsCricket
(CvC)© 2013
