Mumbai, March 8: India's cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar returned to his beloved Wankhede Stadium pitch after a gap of seven years and the clocks were rewound as he received a roaring welcome from the fans at his home ground.
The familiar chants of 'Saachinn-Saachinn' reverberated at the iconic stadium as Tendulkar stepped onto the field to lead the Indian Legends against West Indies Legends in the inaugural match of the Road Safety World Series 2020.
It was a comfortable outing for the Indians as they defeated their opponents by seven wickets and chased down the West Indies total of 150 for eight with 10 balls to spare.
🏟 Wankhede 🤝 “Sachin, Sachinnnn”💙#OneFamily @sachin_rt pic.twitter.com/JATld4dhYW
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 7, 2020
While the crowd kept chanting Sachin's name, it was his opening partner Virender Sehwag who lit the venue with his entertaining and match-winning knock of 74 not out (57 balls, 11x4) taking India to 151/3 in 18.2 overs. Meanwhile, Tendulkar got a quickfire 36 (29 balls, 7x4) before nicking left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn to wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs.
The pair of Tendulkar and Sehwag gave a firing start in their run chase with the latter thrashing pacer Tino Best for back-to-back boundaries in the first over. If Sehwag was devastating, Tendulkar was pleasing to the eyes in his stroke-making. The duo stitched together an 83-run stand for the opening wicket before Tendulkar departed in 11th over.