Cricketers, tycoons, Bollywood glitterati attend Tendulkar's farewell in Mumbai

Bollywood glitterati, business tycoons, politicians and members of the Indian cricket team were in full attendance at a private dinner party thrown by batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar, on Monday in a hotel here.

Dressed in a black suit, Tendulkar accompanied by his wife Anjali, also in black, personally welcomed the guests as security was watertight.

Among the guests, President of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), Sharad Pawar, and Chief of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan attended the party.

Tendulkar's mentor Sunil Gavaskar , chairman of the selection committee Sandeep Patil and former opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth were among the early guests who arrived.

Tendulkar's former team-mates Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag were also present.

Many Bollywood actors, including Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek Bachchan attended the party.

"Very nice party. Great friends, all the cricketers and all close friends, it was a great party," said film actor Arshad Warsi.

The diminutive Indian bid an emotional farewell to the sport at his home ground, the Wankhede Stadium on November 16, signing off as cricket's most prolific run-scorer after a sparkling career that spanned almost a quarter of a century.

His 34,000-plus international runs and countless batting records suggest the 'Little Master' more than lived up to those expectations.

He leaves the game after playing more test matches (200), scoring the most test (15,921) and one-day international (18,426) runs, and compiling more test (51) and one-day (49) hundreds than any other player in cricket history.

Tendulkar will become the first sportsperson to receive a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour, the government announced hours after the batting great's 200th and final test ended on Saturday.

Keeping in tune with his humble nature that has won him countless admirers, Tendulkar dedicated the honour to all mothers in the country, who have made sacrifices for their children.

Tendulkar's largely controversy-free, even inscrutable image would indicate he conducted his duties with skill and aplomb.

He fulfilled his long-cherished dream of winning the World Cup when India won the tournament in 2011 at home and last December he hung up his boots from one-day internationals to make way for youngsters.