It was an advance birthday celebration for Sachin Tendulkar as the batting great cut the cake in front of his beloved home fans at Mumbai's Wankhede stadium during the IPL 2022 match between the Mumbai Indians and the Punjab Kings on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
Tendulkar, who celebrates his milestone 50th birthday on Monday, cut a chocolate cake near the MI dugout during the Punjab Kings innings.
Mumbai Indians made special arrangements for the celebration as nearly 30,000 Sachin face masks were distributed among the fans at the Wankhede.
The entire stadium erupted with chants of 'Sachin!!! Sachin!!!' after the 10th over of the Punjab Kings innings to celebrate Tendulkar's jersey No 10 which he donned for India and Mumbai Indians.
'Sachin made the no 10 jersey iconic in cricket and this year will mark 10 years to the last match he played for India, which had come at the Wankhede stadium. On that occasion, Saturday will be all about celebrating the glorious career of the highest run getter of all time and India's most capped Test and ODI player,' MI stated.
Tendulkar, Mumbai Indians' Icon, gave the team speech in the huddle before the start of the match.
Glimpses from Sachin's birthday celebration at Wankhede:
Photographs: BCCI
