Sachin Tendulkar's portrait unveiled at Lord's MCC Museum

One of the greatest Indian cricketers to grace the sport, Sachin Tendulkar, rang the five-minute bell to kick off the proceedings in the third India vs England Test at Lord's. It was a morning dedicated to Tendulkar at Lord's and at the MCC Museum, with his portrait being unveiled. Tendulkar became the fifth Indian cricketer to have its portrait at the Lord's pavilion, with four of them being painted by Pearson Wright. Unlike the previous ones which were full-length, Tendulkar's was larger than life, featuring his head and shoulders.

"It’s a huge honour. 1983 when India won the World Cup was my first introduction to Lord’s - I saw our captain Kapil Dev lift the trophy. My cricket journey began there," Tendulkar was quoted as saying in an MCC statement. "Today, to have my portrait which will go inside the Pavilion - it has been some journey and it’s a journey that when I look back it brings a smile upon my face. I feel I have completed that circle and it feels special for sure."

The painter, Wright said that he had to take a different approach compared to other such portraits previously at the Museum. “It was clear that MCC didn’t want this portrait to be in the same format as the previous Indian cricket portraits I



made, so a fresh approach was taken with this one. I decided on a composition which focused more on Sachin’s head and also using a heroic larger-than-lifesize scale to give the painting a sense of gravitas and power.”

Charlotte Goodhew, MCC Collections and Programmes Manager, said, “We are very proud to continue to build on our portrait collection at Lord’s and it is wonderful to add such a transcendental figure as Sachin Tendulkar to the names of illustrious subjects for our paintings.

“Sachin is one of the game’s greatest players and an icon in India so it is so exciting to unveil the portrait in the MCC Museum during the men’s Test match between England and India, allowing thousands of cricket fans a chance to see the painting up close.”

The portrait will be at the museum until the end of the 2025 home season for England, before being moved to the pavilion. 

A bright sunny morning in London welcomed both teams as England, learning from their mistake at Edgbaston and opted to bat first on what looked like another flat wicket with grass shaved off in the morning. However, the seam movement with the new ball and the Lord's slope will keep the bowlers interested.