Mumbai: On Saturday, a life-size monument of cricket star Sunil Gavaskar was unveiled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officially opened the new Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum, which is meant to protect and honor Mumbai’s rich cricket history. At the big entrance, there is a statue of Gavaskar and one of Sharad Pawar that greet guests.
This honor comes after the unveiling of a statue for Sachin Tendulkar, another “Master Blaster,” at the same place during the ODI World Cup in 2023.
VIDEO | A statue of former India captain Sunil Gavaskar and NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar was unveiled at Wankhede Stadium as the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) launched its Sharad Pawar Cricket Museum in Mumbai.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 23, 2025
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)… pic.twitter.com/q3qQuzIw1x
Gavaskar, who is also known as the “Little Master,” spoke at the event and thanked the person who did it very much. “I’m at a loss for words because I’m so overwhelmed,” he remarked. “I’ve remarked before that the Mumbai Cricket Association is like my mother. It held my hand when I was just starting to play cricket at school, and I never thought it would come to this.
Gavaskar’s statue shows him in the same pose he struck after hitting his 10,000th Test run in 1987, which made him the first player in history to accomplish that milestone. He played 125 Tests and 108 ODIs for India and scored more than 13,000 runs in combined formats. Gavaskar was a vital player on the winning teams in the 1983 World Cup and the 1985 World Championship of Cricket. He is well-known for his perfect defense and his ability to face the world’s fastest bowlers at the time.
He also commended the new museum, saying that it will be an important resource for future generations. He remarked, “For years, I thought we needed a museum to show off our rich cricket history, and MCA has made that dream come true.” He also said that showing cricket history digitally will help young players “connect with and learn from the game’s glorious past.”
The museum has a collection of historic items, some of which were given to it by players. For example, it has a jersey from former captain Dilip Vengsarkar and a bat and jersey from current India captain Rohit Sharma.