Sachin Tendulkar's life-size statue's striking resemblance with Steve Smith breaks Internet

The statue is dedicated to 50 years of Tendulkar`s life and has been installed by MCA near Sachin Tendulkar Stand at the Wankhede stadium (Pic: ANI/AFP)

It was an effort to immortalise the great Sachin Tendulkar but the unveiling of his statue at the Wankhede stadium became a talking point on social media due to its striking resemblance with Australia batter Steve Smith.

The statue, which depicts Tendulkar hitting a graceful lofted straight drive, was installed near the stand named after him on Thursday.

The netizens noticed the resemblance and soon the memes became to circulate.

"It is the Smith era and his impact. That's why it looks like Smith's sculpture. Maybe they made Steve instead of Sachin but it is the power of Smith," a fan wrote on 'X', mocking the resemblance.

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Another fan wrote: "To compensate this, Cricket Australia will install Sachin's statue at the SCG after Smith's retirement."

Neither Tendulkar, who was present during the unveiling, nor Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) commented on the response on social media.

With 34,357 runs in 664 international appearances at an average of 48.52, Sachin is the highest run-scorer in international cricket. He has scored 100 centuries and 164 half-centuries, most in international cricket. He is the only player to have a century of centuries.

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With 18,426 runs in ODIs and 15,921 runs in Tests, Sachin also has the highest runs in both formats. He is the first player to hit an ODI double hundred and to have played 200 Test matches. He also has 201 international wickets to his name, making him a very useful part-time spin bowling option. With a total of 664 international appearances, he is the most-capped player of all time. He is part of the Indian Team which won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011.

Sachin has played six IPL seasons from 2008-2013, all for Mumbai Indians, where he has scored a total of 2334 runs in 78 matches at an average of 34.84. Sachin has 13 fifties and one hundred under his belt, hitting 29 sixes and 295 fours with a strike rate of 119.82. He won the 2013 edition of the tournament with the franchise as a player.

Sachin's best performance came in IPL 2010. He scored 618 runs in 15 matches at an average of 47.53 at a strike rate of 132.61. He scored five fifties that season and his best individual score was 89'. He won the 'Orange Cap' that season. MI finished as runners-up that season.

(With inputs from agencies)