‘Life has truly come full circle’: Sachin Tendulkar on portrait unveiling at MCC Museum

London: Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar shared his joy after his portrait was unveiled at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Museum, calling it an emotional moment that brought his journey full circle.

The unveiling took place just before the start of the third Test between India and England at Lord’s.

Taking to his X handle, Sachin reflected, “I first visited Lord’s as a teenager in 1988, and returned in 1989 with the Star Cricket Club team. I remember standing near the pavilion, soaking in the history and dreaming quietly. Today, to have my portrait unveiled at this very place is a feeling that’s hard to put into words. Life has truly come full circle. I’m grateful, and filled with wonderful memories.”

Despite his legacy, Tendulkar's Test record at Lord’s is modest. In five matches and nine innings at the venue, he scored just 195 runs at an average of 21.66, with a top score of 37. Across all formats at Lord’s, he played eight matches, scoring 240 runs at an average of 20.00.

This contrasts with his incredible Test returns in England, having made 1,575 runs in 17 Tests and 30 innings at an average of 54.31, with four centuries and eight fifties. His best score is 193. Extending it to all forms of cricket, he has made 2,626 runs in 43 matches and 56 innings at an average of 49.54, with seven centuries and 12 fifties. His best score in England is 193.

The portrait, by artist Stuart Pearson Wright, will remain in the MCC Museum until later this year when it will be relocated to the Pavilion.

Tendulkar is one of the greatest batters ever to have played the game. In an international career that spanned 24 years from 1989 to 2013, Tendulkar scored 34,357 runs in Test matches, One-Day Internationals, and T20 Internationals for India. This total is over 6,000 more than the next highest batter - Kumar Sangakkara with 28,016.

The portrait is painted from a photograph taken by the artist in Tendulkar's home in Mumbai 18 years ago. As the work progressed, so did Pearson Wright's approach, eventually ending with oil on abraded aluminium. The abstract background illustrates Tendulkar's timelessness, unrestricted by any era or specific location.

This is the fifth portrait of an Indian player in MCC's Collections, four of which (Kapil Dev, Bishan Singh Bedi, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Tendulkar) have been painted by Pearson Wright. Unlike the previous paintings, which were full-length, the portrait of Tendulkar is a larger-than-life image of his head and shoulders, as per a press release.

The Lord's Portrait Programme has been running in its current form for three decades, but MCC has been collecting art and artefacts since the Victorian period, opening a dedicated museum in the 1950s, making it the oldest sporting museum in Europe. The Long Room Gallery is the oldest and most iconic gallery in sport.

The Club currently houses around 3,000 pictures, nearly 300 of which are portraits.

ANI