Watch- You Didnt Get On The Lords Honours Board: Bantered Mark Nicholas, Sachin Tendulkar’s Reply Is Pure Gold

Sachin Tendulkar received a special honour on Thursday at Lord’s, where a portrait of the cricket legend was unveiled at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Museum. The unveiling took place ahead of the third Test between England and India. The portrait, created by artist Stuart Pearson Wright, will be displayed in the MCC Museum until later this year, after which it will be moved to the Pavilion.

The Lord’s Portrait Programme has been running for three decades in its current form, though MCC has been collecting cricket-related art and artefacts since the Victorian era. The museum, established in the 1950s, is the oldest sporting museum in Europe. In addition to the portrait unveiling, Tendulkar also rang the iconic five-minute bell to signal the start of play on day one of the Lord’s Test. This Test is part of a five-match series between India and England, currently tied at one-all. The series is being contested for the trophy named after Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson.

The Banter

During the ceremony, Tendulkar shared a light-hearted moment with MCC’s Mark Nicholas. Referring to the famous Lord’s Honours Board, Nicholas asked, “You didn’t get on the Lord’s Honours Board. What happened? High-quality English bowling, I imagine.”

Tendulkar responded with his trademark calm and a touch of humour. “I thought that in 1998, when we played a memorial game, I got a hundred then. Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Srinath, Kumble, and McMillan… But one normally thinks about having your name on the Honours Board. Somehow it wasn’t meant to happen, but it did happen,” he said.

Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest batters the sport has ever seen. Across a remarkable international career from 1989 to 2013, he amassed 34,357 runs in Tests, One-Day Internationals, and T20 Internationals. That total puts him more than 6,000 runs ahead of the next highest scorer, Kumar Sangakkara, who made 28,016 runs.

The portrait unveiled at Lord’s is based on a photograph taken by the artist in Tendulkar’s home in Mumbai 18 years ago. As the painting progressed, Stuart Pearson Wright evolved his approach, ultimately creating the final version using oil on abraded aluminium. The abstract background of the artwork is meant to represent Tendulkar’s timeless legacy, one that transcends eras and locations