The World Cup has caught everyone's imagination, from sand artists to sculptors and advertisers, who want to wish Team India good luck.
International sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik has crafted a 125-ft long cricket bat, a ball and a stadium on the Puri beach. Patnaik has also launched a "sandy" signature campaign to wish the willow-wielders good luck.
"The sand sculpture will be featured in the Limca Book of Records as the longest cricket bat in sand," said Patnaik with pride.
Fifteen students of Patnaik helped him to put the artwork together. The artist, who has in the past handcrafted mind-blowing sand images of Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, George Bush, Saddam Hussein and Santa Claus, has a long association with cricket. He was invited to England to prepare sand sculptures for the 2009 World Cup. Recently, he showcased a sand animation show to wish Team India in CEAT Cricket Award in Mumbai.
L Eswar Rao, a stone sculptor from Jatani, has created a miniature form of the World Cup on a pencil nib, probably the smallest world cup! The one centimetre long world cup is minutely crafted on the granite bar of a pencil with the help of a needle and a blade. Rao has also created a world cup which is about half an inch long with tamarind seed.
"Since I love cricket and I am a great fan of Sachin, I want to do something to cheer the Indian team. I don't know if my message will reach them but I sincerely wish the Cup should come to India. Moreover, it is the last World Cup of Sachin. So it must come to India," said 28-year-old Eswar.
