"It was always a pleasure playing in the Caribbean", Sachin Tendulkar moved by farewell party thrown by Brian Lara and West Indies

Brian Lara presented Sachin Tendulkar with a Trinidadian present – a miniature steel-pan (PTI)

The West Indians might have failed to put up a fight in the two Tests in the Sachin Tendulkar farewell series but they definitely made it up in a private party that they hosted to congratulate and felicitate Sachin Tendulkar and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

After the emotional ending of the Wankhede Test, Tendulkar was invited to a small reception area below the pavilion where the entire West Indian team and Brian Lara waited to pay their tributes to the Indian master blaster.

Brian Lara began by presenting Shivnarine Chanderpaul with a plaque for becoming the first man from the Caribbean Islands to go past the 150 Test mark.

Lara then paid a rich tribute to his arch rival from the 90s, Tendulkar and praised him for his extensive contribution that the Indian batsman made to cricket and the how the West Indies have loved watching him bat.

“He spoke about how Sachin has been a great ambassador of the game and a greater human being. And how it was always a privilege playing against him,” said a team official.

Lara presented Tendulkar with a Trinidadian present — a miniature steel-pan or steel drum native to the island of Trinidad and Tobago.

Tendulkar hugged Lara and thanked the Caribbean public for their love and respect.

“It was always a pleasure playing in the Caribbean. I simply loved the atmosphere there. And one of my regrets is that I couldn’t play much there (he played in 10 Tests but missed India’s last two series there) because of injuries.”