The Wankhede Stadium honoured Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday with a statue of him playing a lofty drive. But the face of the statue has confused many fans and reminded them of Australian cricketer Steve Smith.

The giant sculpture, placed high and mighty in the gap between the Sachin Tendulkar Stand and the Vijay Merchant Pavilion, has been designed by Pramod Kamble.

The brown coloured statue was placed at his home ground. “I would like to dedicate this to all the cricketers who played with me and not just played with me. But they have also inspired millions across the globe,” Sachin said at the unveiling ceremony.

He was of the view that it was everyone’s hard work that took the game forward. The former Indian cricketer was delighted to know that cricket has entered into the Olympics.

“Curious choice to put up a statue of Steve Smith at Mumbai’s Wankhede,” British journalist Lawrence Booth said in a post.

“The knowledgeable Wankhede authorities have erected statue of Steve Smith in honour of his test average,” said another user on X.

Another user described it as the concept art version of Smith’s upcoming biography on Netflix.