Sachin Tendulkar or Steve Smith? Mumbai's statue dilemma!

It was an effort to immortalise the great Sachin Tendulkar. But the unveiling of his statue at the Wankhede stadium became a talking point on social media for an unsual reason. | AFP

Many netizens pointed out the statue's striking resemblance with Australia batter Steve Smith. | AFP

The statue, which depicts Tendulkar hitting a graceful lofted straight drive, was installed near the stand named after him on Thursday. | Twitter

The netizens noticed the Tendulkar statue's resemblance to Smith and soon the memes became to circulate. | AFP

"It is the Smith era and his impact. That's why it looks like Smith's sculpture. Maybe they made Steve instead of Sachin but it is the power of Smith," a fan wrote on 'X', mocking the resemblance. | AFP

"To compensate this, Cricket Australia will install Sachin's statue at the SCG after Smith's retirement," another jotted. | Twitter