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Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar is set to become the first living cricketer to have a grand sports museum built in his honour - a rare tribute which has only been given to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman till now.
The Maharashtra government on Thursday proposed to build a sports museum here to showcase Tendulkar's cricket career, adding another feather in the iconic batsman's well-adorned hat.
The proposal was mooted in the budget 2010-11 by Finance Minister Sunil Tatkare.
"Tendulkar is an honour for the country and his contribution in the field of cricket is incomparable. To encourage fledgling players, the government intends to build a grand sports museum to showcase the master blaster's career," he said, adding necessary provisions will be made for the purpose.
If the proposal comes through, the 36-year-old batsman will become the first living cricketer to have such a museum.
Australia legend Bradman has a meseum in his honour at Bowral, near Adelaide, but it was built only after his death.
Tendulkar created history last month when he became the first cricketer in the world to score a double century in One-Day Internationals by cracking an unbeaten 200 against South Africa in Gwalior.
The Maharashtra government has asked the Centre that Tendulkar be honoured with the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country for his achievements in international cricket.
The champion batsman, a former Indian captain, has scored a phenomenal 13, 447 runs, including 47 centuries, in 166 Tests while he has aggregated 17,598 runs and slammed 46 centuries in 442 ODIs.