Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Oct 6: Sachin Tendulkar stated Tuesday that he wants to promote cricket in the United States by engaging the huge South Asian diaspora there through the T20 series for former stars in his endeavour to globalise the sport.
Come November, and ‘Sachin’s Blasters’ will take on ‘Warne’s Warriors’ in a three-match T20 series ‘Cricket All-Stars Series 2015’. The matches will be played in Houston and Los Angeles.
“During last year’s MCC bicentenary match at Lord’s, I realised that all of us, I mean the former cricketers still have a lot of passion left,” stated Tendulkar. “We realised that crowds still come and fill up the stadiums when we play. Then I felt that we could continue with our passion and also promote cricket in different parts of the world,” he added.
While there has been an official ODI game between New Zealand and West Indies, played at Florida, the United States remains an unchartered territory for cricket even as the likes of Tendulkar, Warne, Curtly Ambrose and Ricky Ponting get ready to enthrall their fans in this part of the world.
Asked if his presence will open the American market for Indian cricket, Tendulkar’s response was a cautious one. “I can’t predict on that, but the basic idea is to get the locals excited and get them involved with the game of cricket. This is an ideal opportunity to globalise the game. It gives us opportunity to take cricket in the United States,” Tendulkar informed.
Asked about the famous Sachin Tendulkar-Sourav Ganguly combination opening the batting against Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose, the icon laughed and said, “That is precisely the idea of these matches. I have so many friends in the United States who have never got a chance to watch us live in action.”
“Even though we have retired we are taking the matches seriously. I have started my physical training and then will shift to specific T20 training” Sachin Tendulkar