It's early winter in north India but in the Rohtak district of Haryana, the officials from the local administration and Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) are feeling the heat.

Sachin Tendulkar's decision to play his last Ranji Trophy game before his international retirement, against Haryana at Lahli, from October 27 is turning out to be a logistical nightmare for the administrators.

The biggest question confronting the administration both in government and at cricket is: Where to accommodate Sachin Tendulkar, a cricketing icon and a member of the Rajya Sabha?

"As things stand, Rohtak doesn't have a three, four or five star hotel," says a HCA official closely involved in the preparations.

"What's even more concerning is that none have more than 15 rooms, which is the least number of players and officials travelling with the Mumbai team. Right now we are planning to accommodate the team in the Rivoli Hotel, which we feel is the best in the area. It has a Suite Room that can be used by Tendulkar.

But this hotel only has 12 rooms, so the team might be put up at two different places."

What are the other options?

"There are two Haryana government resorts - Tilyar and Myna - being considered but these two also don't have enough rooms. We also need to consider the security aspect as Tendulkar is also a MP. For this we have involved the local administration. The District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police visited the ground today. They are accessing the security situation at the Rivoli and resorts. They will get back to us in next few days," the source informed.

CM opens his house

Hang on, it gets more interesting. There is also a chance that Tendulkar might stay at the Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's residence in Rohtak. Hooda's son Deepender is a Lok Sabha member from Haryana. Tendulkar, though, might not be too keen on staying at a different place from the rest of the team.

Also The TV commentators are going to be put up at a hotel 30-35 kms from the stadium.

The other, although relatively minor, logistical problem is preparing the ground for the live television coverage. The stadium has no permanent structure to hold cameras and the association is running against time to construct the temporary structures.

Although this is not the first time that Lahli is hosting a big name - they have had Virender Sehwag play at the Bansi Lal Stadium - but Tendulkar is Tendulkar. For the record, the Haryana team will be staying in the hostel inside the stadium.



Sachin Tendulkar More Stills


Keywords: Rohtak district,Haryana Cricket Association,HCA,Sachin Tendulkar, Ranji Trophy ,administrators, Rivoli Hotel,security situation , resorts, Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda,Hooda's son Deepender, Lok Sabha member, TV commentators,television coverage, Virender Sehwag , Bansi Lal Stadium ,cricket news,sports news