Tendulkar to be honoured at Bombay stadium

Bombay is to honour batsman Sachin Tendulkar by naming a pavilion at the city's Wankhede stadium after him, a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official said on Wednesday.

Tendulkar, 28, was last month awarded the Maharashtra Bhushan, the highest government award in Maharashtra, prompting Bombay's decision to honour him further.

"The MCA management committee met yesterday and finalised the proposal," MCA joint secretary Ratnakar Shetty told Reuters from Bombay.

Local media reports had said the MCA dropped an earlier move to name the stadium's northern stand after Tendulkar.

Shetty said the suggestion was not considered because the northern stand had already been named after the Tatas, a leading industrial house that has a 50-year contract with the MCA.

"We could not have named one portion after the Tatas and another after Tendulkar," he said.

Tendulkar, widely regarded as the world's best batsman, became the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals during the recent home series against Australia.

Tendulkar and another former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who received the state award two years ago, will be given 250,000 rupees in cash and silver bats at a function at Wankhede stadium on May 23, Shetty said.

Tendulkar is the sixth test player from Bombay to have his name inscribed at the venue. Vinoo Mankad, Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, Vijay Merchant and Gavaskar are the others.

Mail Cricket Editor