Even as the frenzy around his farewell series continues to intensify, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and other members of Team India Sunday arrived in the city for the Nov 6-10 Test match at the Eden Gardens against the West Indies.
While 11 members of the team, including skipper M.S. Dhoni arrived in the afternoon, Tendulkar, along with Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav touched down later in the evening.
A large number of lenspersons and television crew were disappointed as Tendulkar was whisked away from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport from a different exit.
Fresh from trouncing Australia in a seven-match home ODI series, the Dhoni-led team, including Tendulkar, skipped Diwali celebrations and will be hitting the nets Monday to get into Test match grove.
Officials of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) - which has planned a series of gala events to mark Tendulkar's final appearance at the Eden, received the maestro as he touched down at the airport.
Billed as Tendulkar's farewell series, the teams will play two Tests and three ODIs .
The second Test is scheduled Nov 14-18 in Mumbai while the three ODIs will be played Nov 21, 24 and 27.