How an early win for India upset Kolkata’s date with Sachin Tendulkar

Sometimes, even cricket pundits could get their predictions wrong. In honour of Sachin Tendulkar’s last match at the Edens, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had planned a gala felicitation for the cricket legend on day five, but shifted the plan to day four after pundits said the match could get end a day earlier. But India’s early win on day 3 of the Test itself sent the CAB into a tizzy. Desiring to give Sachin Tendulkar a memorable farewell after his 199th Test, the CAB had ordered 199 kg of rose petals and three special aircraft to shower the Master Blaster after the match, alongside Shane Warne and Vivian Richards.

 Even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had to cancel her plans and rush to Eden Gardens after she was informed that the match would end on Friday itself. “Abar esho (please come again),” Banerjee told Sachin in Bengali showering the legend with gifts and a painting by her. Sachin and Mamata after the Test match ended on Friday. PTI But for the Trinamool Congress, the plans made by CAB, did not go unappreciated. “…arranging 199 kg petals & an aircraft at an hour’s notice is no mean feat. It’s the thought that counts. Kudos to CAB for that,” the party tweeted out. “But you cannot control everything. We won the match but could not celebrate it in a grand way. 

We had permits for the rose petal shower via aircraft for day four and five only,” said Subir Ganguly, joint secretary at CAB told the Business Standard. The two day early victory for India could also lead to a monetary loss for CAB as the arrangements for rose petals and special aircraft were already made. But Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said only 99 kg were sourced and the rest of the order was cancelled. For O’Brien the early finish was a disappointment as he thought he could catch the match on the fourth day. “Many, many of us in Kolkata had planned a Saturday date with a lady named Eden. 

She ditched us big time,” he tweeted. Even Bollywood superstar and West Bengal ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, missed a chance to watch Sachin Tendulkar’s last Test series. With a ban imposed on his entry to Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Khan had plans of catching the 199th Test at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. “I will go on November 10. I am going to Kolkata for a film festival and I will try and attend the test match there. I will see if I can reach, land up there and wish him,” Shah Rukh Khan had said.

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