Sachin Tendulkar will re-live his cricket experiences with several former India team-mates during the Twenty20 All Star Series in the United States. Virender Sehwag, one of his opening partners, will join the galaxy of international stars for the three-match series in November.
Tendulkar said, “Virender Sehwag will be playing in the All Star Series. It is very exciting for fans and who does not want to see Sehwag bat?” said the little master, after a knocking session at the MCA Stadium, Bandra Kurla Complex, in Mumbai on Tuesday. The series will have three T20 games at New York, Houston and Los Angeles. The venues will be baseball stadiums with drop-in cricket pitches.
Tendulkar is excited about the prospect of opening the batting with either Sehwag or Sourav Ganguly. “Teams have not been decided, but it would be interesting to play with any of these big time players, some of whom I have played alongside for India, some against, and others whom I have not played with,” Tendulkar said.
Sehwag, who recently retired from international cricket, though continuing his first-class career with Haryana, has had opening partnerships with Tendulkar in Tests and ODIs, including World Cups.
Meanwhile Tendulkar pointed out that fans will get opportunity to interact with cricket players fielding near the ropes. “Matches will be in baseball stadiums, so fans will be just a few feet away from us. We have characters in our teams and fans would love to joke with them,” he said. The All-Stars Series players list includes Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jonty Rhodes.
Tendulkar expects Indians to spread the popularity of cricket among Americans. “I have friends living and working in America. They were exposed to baseball when their local friends took them to the stadiums. Now is the time to reciprocate and get Americans to watch cricket,” he said.
