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After giving lukewarm response in the first two days of the third Test between India and the West Indies, cricket fans made a beeline for entry into the Wankhede Stadium, on Thursday, in anticipation of Sachin Tendulkar coming out to bat and score his 100th international hundred.
Long queues of fans were seen outside the ticket counters of the Mumbai Cricket Association at the adjacent Mumbai Hockey Association premises more than an hour before the start of play on day three of the match.
Police personnel and the private security guards employed by the MCA, after two days' of lull, had to swing into action to control the crowd and allow for smooth entry into the 33,000-capacity stadium that had been revamped ahead of the World Cup held earlier this year.
On the first two days of action, when West Indies batted first to post a mammoth first innings 590, the crowd were only to the tune of 10,000 in the afternoons, but, on Thursday, at least double that number is expected to turn up to watch India bat with the possibility of Tendulkar coming out in the middle.