Bengaluru: Sachin Tendulkar's final Test is attracting cricket lovers like bees to a beehive. His best friends will be at the match which begins on Thursday . So too will Bollywood and Big Business, whose stars and leaders make the Indian Premier League such a spectacle.
The Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, who owns a cricket team, is likely to be the one most conspicuous by his absence as his run-in with Mumbai Cricket Association is yet to be resolved and his ban from Wankhede Stadium is still in place.
Some say Sachin's timing was just a little off with regard to his retirement. But, even after it was announced with fanfare and well in time during the West Indies series, it was the turn of the stars to get their timing all wrong.
They were hoping to combine the international film festival in Kolkata with Sachin's 199th match at the Eden Gardens. That Test was wrapped up by India in under three days leaving the stars in Kolkata awaiting the master, while the cricket master was at home for some family time.
Amitabh Bachchan, who blogged vigorously on Sachin's retire vigorously on Sachin's retire ment, will be at hand to salute the batsman who in 24 years of topflight cricket scaled sever al peaks that others may never conquer. A great admirer, Amitabh is expect ed to be in one of the sever al corporate boxes around the Wankhede Stadium.
His son Abhishek has con firmed that he will be at the stadium. So too is Atul Kasbekar. Reliance has the biggest luxury corporate box of the lot (leased for '20 crore for five years) and that should be the centre of the 'beehive' over the next five days.
The country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and his wife Nita, who has become very close to Sachin after her leading role in managing the Mumbai Indians, will be in attendance. Lata Mangeshkar, the nightingale of Bollywood, is an unabashed admirer. She has even got into trouble for suggesting various things for the cricketer post-retirement. A fan of cricket for decades, Lata is expected to be present and rooting for Sachin.
Aamir Khan who wrote a touching tribute to Sachin on his retirement announcement will be at the cricket stadium. The long conversations the star has had with the cricketer in matches in Mumbai has left him dazed by the cricketer's knowledge.
Sachin would predict exactly where the next ball would be bowled and the Bollywood star would be surprised each time because the cricketer would be right. A song from the latest Dhoom series to be released next month has a Sachin anthem too, further sealing the good vibes they enjoy .
Kaliash Kher who was invited to perform live at the Dhaka Stadium in the one-day match in which Sachin made his 100th international century (51 in Tests, 49 in ODIs) has composed a Sachin Anthem, which can be downloaded for free from the singer's website.
In days past, when technology was not what it is today, Sachin's ghetto blaster was a pain his team mates had to endure in team hotels. So, expect a few friends from the world of music to be present too. A Bollywood insider says the industry is planning to drop most shooting schedules on the day the Master Blaster will be batting in the Test so that whoever wishes can make a beeline to the Wankhede Stadium.
Big Business will be there in regal attendance -from the Ambanis and the Godrejs to the several corporate brands that Sachin endorses. Cricket stars will, of course, be prominent on television that tends to celebrate the game through the voices of former players.
Apart from Sunil Gavaskar, a batting mentor, and Kapil Dev, his Team India colleague for close to five years, several stars are all set to make it here  Clive Lloyd, West Indies captain, Shane Warne with whom Sachin fought many an intriguing battle on the pitch and Brain Lara with whom he was compared most in the 90s will be heading the cricket brigade.
