Virender Sehwag, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, will be joining his former opening partner Sachin Tendulkar among an array of international stars for the three-match All-Star Series to be played in the United States in November.
Speaking about Sehwag, Tendulkar said, “Virender Sehwag will be playing in the All-Star Series. It is very exciting for fans. Who does not want to see Sehwag bat?” The series will have three T20 games at New York, Houston and Los Angeles, the venues being baseball stadiums with drop-in cricket pitches.
Tendulkar is excited about the prospect of opening the batting with Sehwag or Sourav Ganguly. “Teams have not been decided, but it would interesting to play with these big names, some whom I have played alongside for India, some against and others whom I have not played with.”
Fans will get an opportunity to interact with cricketers fielding near the ropes, he added. “Matches will be in baseball stadiums, so fans will be just a few feet away from us. We have characters in our teams, fans would love to joke around with them.”
The T20 players list includes legends Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jonty Rhodes, V.V.S. Laxman etc.
Tendulkar expects Indians to help spread the popularity of cricket among locals. “I have friends living and working in America. They did not know baseball, till local friends took them to the stadiums and explained the game to them. Now is the time to reciprocate and get Americans to watch cricket and make them understand,” he said.