Sachin Tendulkar's final Test is attracting cricket lovers to Wankhede stadium in Mumbai like bees to nectar. Not only will his close friends, on and off the field, be at the match that begins on Thursday, Bollywood stars and industrialists will also be present in full strength.
Perhaps Shah Rukh Khan will be one of the few superstars absent as his run-in with the Mumbai Cricket Association is yet to be resolved and his ban from Wankhede Stadium is still in force.
In fact, India's three-day win at three-day win at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata threw the plans of many of the stars as they had hoped to see Sachin play his 199th match while at the same time participate in the Inter national Film Festival in Kolkata. However, what the stars missed out on in Kolkata, they will make good in Mumbai.
Amitabh Bachchan, who has blogged vigorously on Sachin's retirement, will be present along with his star son Abhishek Bachchan.
Reliance has the biggest luxury corporate box in the stadium Âleased at Rs 20 crore for five years  and that will be the centre of attention other than the Little Master over the next five days. Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita  who is very close to Sachin given her association with the IPL team Mumbai Indians  will be in attendance. Lata Mangeshkar is also an unabashed admirer of Sachin and has promised to be there, rooting for her hero.
Aamir Khan who wrote a touching tribute to Sachin after his announcement to retire will also make it a point to be at Wankhede. The actor had said that the long conversations he had with the cricketer during matches in Mumbai had left him dazed by the latter's knowledge.
Singer Kailash Kher, who was invited to perform live at the Dhaka stadium during the OneDay match in which Sachin made his 100th international century, has composed a Sachin Anthem for the occasion, which can be downloaded for free from the singer's website.
A Bollywood insider says that the industry is planning to drop most shooting schedules on the day the Master Blaster will be batting so that his star fans can make a beeline to Wankhede.
Other then the Ambanis, corporate families like the Godrejs and officials from the brands that Sachin endorses will also be there.
Cricket greats of course, will be present to bid adieu to one of the greatest sons of the game.
From Sachin's batting mentor Sunil Gavaskar, his Team India colleague for close to five years, Kapil Dev, former West Indian captain Clive Lloyd, to his contemporaries like Shane Warne and Brian Lara will head the cricket brigade.
