Kochi, Oct 5 (IANS): Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar arrived here on Wednesday to an enthusiastic welcome from a huge crowd of adoring fans ahead of his football team 'Kerala Blasters' home game against Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) in the ISL.

The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tendulkar, the co-owner of the Kerala franchise in the Indian Super League (ISL), was mobbed by his fans and he faced difficulty even in getting into his car after arriving at the international airport here.

Kerala Blasters began the ISL third edition on a sour note by losing to NorthEast United in the opener at Guwahati on Saturday by a solitary goal.

Tendulkar, a Bharat Ratna awardee, later drove to the hotel where his team is put up.

The Master Blaster will arrive at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium ahead of the match before a sellout crowd of enthusiastic football supporters who will get to watch their home team play in the ISL.

Ian Hume will be another star attraction since he scored five goals in the first edition of the tournament for Blasters and secured his team the runners-up position.

This time, he has already scored once for ATK in their opening match, which they drew 2-2 against Chennaiyin FC.