By Abhishek Roy, IANS,
Ahmedabad : The International Cricket Council (ICC) might have planned a fairytale final for Sachin Tendulkar at his home ground, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai April 2, but fans here are hoping the batting maestro notches up his 100th international century at the Sardar Patel Stadium here against Australia in the World Cup quarter-final Thursday.
Motera is special for Tendulkar as 12 years ago at the same venue he got his maiden double Test century against New Zealand. For Tendulkar, the stage is perfect to get his century of centuries.
This is also the ground where Indian legends Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar achieved historical landmarks. Kapil broke New Zealand Richard Hadlee’s record to become the highest wicket-taker in Tests, while Gavaskar became the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Tests.
The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) and ICC plan to felicitate Tendulkar if he reaches the historic landmark Thursday.
Motera fans want Tendulkar to blast a majestic century against the Australians and take the revenge of the 2003 World Cup final loss.
All roads leading to the stadium were jam-packed as fans shouted “Sachin Sachin” on way to the stadium.
“I think this is a perfect stage for Tendulkar to get his 100th international century. The stadium in lucky for him. After all, he got his maiden double century here,” said Rakeb Patel, sporting a Tendulkar jersey.
Some fans dressed as Sachin look-alikes waited for more than three hours at the stadium gate to have a glimpse of the master blaster as the team bus arrived.
Sachin acknowledged the cheers by waving his hand and the crowd went berserk giving tough times to the security personals.
Some female fans sporting colourful wigs had the name Tendulkar painted on their cheeks.
“Today Motera will go berserk if Tendulkar scores his 100th century. We all are praying for his century,” said Malini Mehta, a teenager.