Tendulkar to play 200th Test at Wankhede

Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will be hosting the farewell Test for Sachin Tendulkar after the legendary batsman expressed a wish to play his landmark 200th match against the West Indies next month in front of his home crowd.

The BCCI’s Programmes and Fixtures committee, headed by Rajiv Shukla, met here on Tuesday to chalk out the detailed schedule of the hastily-arranged series comprising two Tests and three one-dayers.

Mr. Shukla said that the committee decided to grant Tendulkar’s wish to play his last Test at the venue where he made his debut in first class cricket — the Wankhede Stadium.

The Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the opening clash of the series from November 6 to 10 and like Wankhede, gets an ’out-of-turn’ Test match as according to the BCCI’s rotational policy, it was actually Bangalore and Ahmedabad’s turn.

The second Test is scheduled from November 14-18.

The Caribbean side will also play three ODIs slated for November 21, 24 and 27.

The venues for the first two One-day Internationals will be Kochi and Visakhapatnam, respectively, while the third ODI is yet to be decided.

According to Mr. Shukla, the final One-dayer could go to held in either Kanpur or Baroda.

Farewell

The BCCI is also planning a grand farewell for Tendulkar.

The Board had squeezed in the home series against the West Indies to give Tendulkar an opportunity to retire in front of his home fans.

Tendulkar last week announced his decision to retire from Test cricket after playing his landmark match, bringing an end to the intense speculation about his future.

The itinerary of the series between India and the West Indies:

Oct 28: The West Indies cricket team arrives in India

Oct 31-Nov 2: Three-day game (West Indies v UPCA at Cuttack)

Nov 6-10: First Test at Kolkata

Nov 14-18: Second Test at Mumbai

Nov 21: First ODI at Kochi

Nov 24: Second ODI at Visakhapatnam

Nov 27: Third ODI at Baroda/Kanpur.