All Rajkot wants is a Tendulkar ton today

The likes of MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan have a huge fan following in any city in India. But when it comes to Rajkot, the locals don't look beyond Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session in Rajkot yesterday. PIC/AFP

Be it former cricketers or fans, everyone wants to see the Master Blaster score big runs in today's one-dayer against Sri Lanka. And more so because Rajkot has been one venue where Tendulkar has not scored hundreds.

He has played six ODIs in Rajkot and scored 161 runs at 26.83 with a strike rate of 79.31. His highest score in Rajkot is 54, which is his only half-century at this venue.

"If not now, when will Tendulkar score a century in Rajkot? He has been playing here since 1994 and doesn't have a hundred to his name. It's time he repays the love showered upon him by everyone here," said Shirish Buch, a former Saurashtra batsman.

It's rare to find a cricket lover who is not a Tendulkar fan. In Rajkot, chances of it happening are more remote.

"Rajkot has not been a happy hunting ground for Tendulkar. I have been coming to the ground to watch him bat since the mid 1990s but have always returned disappointed. I am a big fan of him and I hope he can score a hundred in the ODI. He must give something back to the Rajkot fans," said former Saurashtra left-arm spinner Yusuf Bambhaniya.

If the cricketers are desperate to see a Tendulkar special, the fans are no different. "I have watched all the 11 ODIs played here so far. I am a great admirer of Tendulkar, but he has never shown his true class in Rajkot.

This is his 20th year in international cricket and Rajkot has accorded him a warm welcome.

"Nothing less than a century from his blade will do this time around. He owes a grand hundred to his thousands of fans in Rajkot," said Dr Neepa Pandhi, a senior professor of microbiology at Virani Science College.