ENG vs IND 2025: MCC Museum unveils Sachin Tendulkar portrait before Lord’s Test

A portrait of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was revealed in the MCC Museum before the first day of the England against India Men’s Test match at Lord’s. The picture, created by artist Stuart Pearson Wright, will remain at the MCC Museum until later this year, when it will be moved to the Pavilion. Tendulkar is regarded as one of the best batsmen in history.

Tendulkar’s international career extended 24 years, from 1989 to 2013, and included 34,357 runs in Tests, One-Day Internationals, and Twenty20 Internationals for India. This total is more than 6,000 more than the next highest batter, Kumar Sangakkara (28,016).

The image was painted from a photograph shot by the artist at Tendulkar’s residence in Mumbai 18 years ago. Pearson Wright’s approach evolved as the project continued, eventually resulting in oil on abraded metal. The abstract background represents Tendulkar’s eternal nature, unaffected by era or region.

Pearson Wright painted four of the five portraits of Indian players in the MCC Collections, including Kapil Dev, Bishan Bedi, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Tendulkar. Unlike the previous paintings, which were full-length, Tendulkar’s picture is a larger-than-life representation of his head and shoulders.

The Lord’s Portrait Programme has been in operation for three decades, although MCC has been collecting art and relics since the Victorian era, building a dedicated museum in the 1950s to become Europe’s oldest sporting museum. The Long Room Gallery is the oldest and most well-known sports gallery. The Club now has over 3,000 photos, nearly 300 of which are portraits.

Sachin Tendulkar stated, “It’s a tremendous honour.

My first experience with Lord’s was in 1983, when India won the World Cup. I witnessed our skipper, Kapil Dev, lift the trophy. That moment ignited my cricket career. Today, with my portrait hanging inside the Pavilion, it feels like life has come full circle. Reflecting about my career brings a grin to my face. “This is something truly special.”

Pearson Wright stated, “It was clear that MCC did not want this portrait to be in the same format as the previous Indian cricket portraits I created, so a new approach was taken with this one.” I chose a composition that centred on Sachin’s head while also employing a heroic larger-than-lifesize scale to give the picture a feeling of gravitas and strength.”

“I have often painted a portrait with an abstract background, often a plain colour, rather than paint a rendition of an interior or exterior space. This is largely to give focus to the subject’s features and to minimise a context which might define the subject in some way.”