"We had made all the arrangements for the fifth and the fourth day. Even the permission from ATC (Air traffic control) was taken for the two days. We didn't expect that the game would end on the third day," CAB treasurer Biswarup Dey said.
In fact, the CAB had expected a fourth day finish as some high profile guests including BCCI supremo N Srinivasan, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and cricketing legends Brian Lara and Steve Waugh were expected on Saturday to felicitate Tendulkar.
"Lara and Waugh already have boarded the flights are expected any time. But things did not go our way," another CAB official said.
The master himself had a forgettable outing after being dismissed for 10 in the first session of second day. He came in to the crease at 9.39 am and only when he started to get into the groove hitting two boundaries, Tendulkar became victim of a dubious umpiring decision.
It was not even half filled as only about 20,000 crowd saw him bat for the last time at the historic stadium.
The CAB, which had welcome the iconic cricketer with confetti burst and erecting a wax statue and took out a tableux, had grand plans of distributing 70,000 Tendulkar masks but it turned out to be a flop show.
The masks were circulated only today but as India did not have to bat again with the West Indies handing an innings and 51 runs defeat there was no 'Tendulkar show' on the stands as well.
Putting the blame on the broadcasters about the mask fiasco, the CAB treasurer added: "The sponsors Star gave it. We had not planned to give it from the CAB."
In fact nothing had gone the hosts associations way as the CAB had embarrassed Tendulkar with two goof-ups on the first two days.
First, they misspelt the senior batsman's name as "Sachine" in a giant billboard that had noted artist Jogen Chowdhury's sketch of the iconic batsman.
And then on the second day of the match, the giant display at the High Court end kept on flashing "Welcome 'Mr' Anjali Tendulkar and Master Arjun Tendulkar" while Tendulkar's family was sitting at the president's enclosure.
Despite all the claims, none of the days in fact saw a full house even as India happily took a 1-0 lead into the last and farewell match of Tendulkar in Mumbai from November 14.
Cricket Association of Bengal's plans for Sachin Tendulkar's farewell turn out to be damp squib
Advertisement