NEW DELHI: 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 due to its striking resemblance with Australia batter Steve Smith.

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

The netizens noticed the resemblance and soon the memes became to circulate.

"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.

Another fan wrote: "To compensate this, Cricket Australia will install Sachin’s statue at the SCG after Smith’s retirement."

Neither Tendulkar, who was present during the unveiling, nor the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) commented on the response on social media.