THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A. Anoop, a native of Kottarakara and a reporter with a leading Malayalam television news channel, is a diehard fan of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. So when he decided to marry Sukanya, a techie, he came out with a unique invitation card in the form of a ticket to a cricket match having the foil of Sachin Tendulkar with his digital autograph. The 30-year-old's ‘match of the day’ is falling on July 15 where the ‘kick-off’ will happen at 11 am. Invitees have been advised to take their seats at Ebenezer Park, Punalur, and there is also a “post-match” reception on the same day at Shilpa Regency, Kottarakara, from 5 pm.
Mr Anoop had never missed an opportunity to watch Sachin's matches whenever he padded up for the country. When he started working on the sports desk of the television, his joy knew no bounds as he could analyse his dream player’s matches live. He recalled how he watched Sachin playing a test match against the Aussies in 2013. When queried whether he tried to get an autograph, pat came the reply: “More than his autograph, I wanted to see him in person playing his flamboyant innings."
"India had won that test match where, in the first innings, Sachin scored 60 runs, and in the second, he remained 12 not out. Later, I went all the way to Chennai to meet him addressing college students where again I did not bother to have his autograph,” said Mr Anoop who is working in Kottarakara bureau. While recalling his admiration towards, he told DC that his fiancée, a software engineer with an IT company in Technopark, is not aware of the marriage invitation he had created. Son of K. Arindivan, a farmer, and homemaker D. Pushpalatha, he wanted to create a unique invitation letter that would have a stamp of his dream player. But these days, he is being queried by his friends on whether he has invited Sachin for his marriage. Though he did not have any plans, the prodding has set him re-think.
