Sports
Loudest cheers for Tendulkar, boos for Srinivasan
Melbourne, March 29
Two Indians - cricketing
legend Sachin Tendulkar and ICC chairman N. Srinivasan - on Sunday
received contrasting reception from the record 93,013-strong crowd at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the World Cup final.
While
every mention of Tendulkar led to roars of applause and cheers,
Srinivasan was roundly booed when his name was announced during the
presentation ceremony.
It was a new role for Tendulkar,
accustomed to receiving prizes and trophies galore during his glittering
24-year cricketing career, as he handed over the Player of the
Tournament and Player of the Final awards to Mitchell Starc and James
Faulkner respectively.
Having turned out in Indian colours in
half a dozen World Cup tourneys spread over 19 years since 1992, it was
the first edition of the mega event at which the Mumbaikar made his
appearance since hanging up his gloves.
But the tremendous
respect and huge popularity that Tendulkar, the brand ambassador of the
2015 tournament, commands across the cricketing world was amply evident
when his name was announced as a member of the presentation party by the
host of the award ceremony, Mark Nicholas.
Only seconds earlier,
as Nicholas pronounced Srinivasan's name, the crowd booed. The former
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president took it stoically
even as he looked all around.
However, the boos gave way to deafening cheers all around as the presenter announced Tendulkar's name immediately after.
The
applause extended for several seconds, halting the announcements. Many
people rose from their seats in the galleries to salute the cricketing
genius, who stood smiling next to Srinivasan on the podium. Smartly
turned out in a navy blue suit and printed blue tie, Tendulkar waved to
the crowd acknowledging their adulation.
Sometime later, as he
handed over the memento to Faulkner and congratulated him on his
achievement, the Aussie forgot to take the "Player of the Match" trophy
and went away to shake hands with the others present on the podium.
Tendulkar
broke into smiles and called the allrounder loudly, to remind him of
his mistake. As Faulkner came back, the cricketing great gave him the
trophy, seemingly cracked a joke and patted him on the back.
Another
bout of applause went up as Tendulkar was called upon to present the
award to Starc, who finished the tournament with 22 wickets.
Tendulkar,
who clearly was enjoying every moment of the ceremony, spoke for a
short while with Starc, who listened with rapt attention.
In a
sharp contrast, some of the Australian cricketers did not bother to
shake hands with Srinivasan when they were called to the podium to
receive their individual medallions.
Srinivasan, however, brought
the ceremony to a close by handing over the glittering World Cup trophy
to victorious Australian skipper Michael Clarke.