Sachin immortalized in wax

India’s most successful batsman Sachin Tendulkar became the first Indian sportsperson to have his wax figure unveiled at a media gathering at his hometown, Mumbai, before it joins other celebrities at Madame Tussauds’ sports zone at London later this month.

When Sachin Tendulkar surpassed Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 runs to become the highest Test scorer at Mohali against Australia, the master blaster celebrated the momentous occasion, which took 19 year’s of relentless grind, by pumping his fists and gazing at the sky.

Describing his customary style, just like his countless marked to perfection cricket shots, he said “When I looked up, I had two thoughts: one was I thanked the Almighty for everything he’s given me and the second thing I thought about was my father. If he’d seen it, he would have definitely been a proud man.”

The batting maestro scoring a century and then lifting his bat and looking heavenwards is one of the most common sites in international cricket. About his record-breaking feat Sachin said, "It can't happen overnight. It has been a fantastic journey and has taken me 19 years to get the record.”

The big moment has now been captured for posterity in a special way. Sachin Tendulkar, whose wax statue was unveiled at Mumbai yesterday, bears the same pose.

It was hard to spot the ‘real’ Sachin when the curtains were pulled. With his arms stretched, a bat in the right hand and a helmet on the left with the Indian tricolor stamped on it, the wax figure of Tendulkar bared an eerily resemblance to the original master who was standing on the right. The similarity only cleared once he blinked, as a result of the never ending camera clicks.

Despite personally choosing his pose of overcoming Lara’a feat, Tendulkar was at a loss of words when asked to comment on his wax replica. “It's difficult to express in words what is very close to something identical. I'm glad it does not breathe. The detailing is so much," the champion batsman said after unveiling his own wax replica.

The 35-year old is the third cricketer after West Indian legend Brian Lara and Australian spin-wizard Shane Warne to have his wax figure at the very prestigious Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London. Incidentally, it was the first time that a wax figure was launched outside the museum.

“It is the first time we have ever launched a figure overseas but we really wanted Sachin to see his likeness before it meets the public in the attraction," said Liz Edwards, PR Manager at Madame Tussauds London.

Sachin, who happens to be the first sportsperson from India to have his wax statue, was visibly delighted. "It is a great honour to be there at the Tussauds. I know I am the first sportsperson of the country to be there. I think it is an appreciation and a reflection of my contribution to Indian cricket," he said.

As an icing on the cake, the wax statue will be inaugurated and open to public viewing at the museum on the day of the master’s 36th birthday i.e. 24th April.

About the figure

Tendulkar met with Madame Tussauds sculptors in his hometown Mumbai earlier in the year to be measured and photographed for the creation of his figure and donated the cricket whites his striking wax figure is wearing.

Sachin had to undergo close to 500 precise body and facial measurements taken over two hours and it took a team of around 20 skilled artists to create the figure.

The figure was created at Madame Tussauds studios in West London over a three month period. The reason for such a perfect figure was the high level of attention given to every minute detail. A team of skilled hair and colour artists manually inserted hair and built up life-like skin tone by applying several layers of oil paint. They even reproduced every freckle, mole, dimple and wrinkle.