A Unique Cricket Encounter
It is hard to imagine Sachin Tendulkar ever turning out for an Australian franchise. He spent years producing unforgettable performances against Australia and broke many records against them. Iconic innings in Sharjah and multiple great test performances have come in this fixture.
However, after retirement from international cricket in 2013, there was a move to bring the Indian superstar back onto the cricket field for an Australian Big Bash League season.
The Melbourne Stars’ Ambition
Former Melbourne Stars chairman Eddie McGuire has admitted that the franchise seriously thought about trying to sign him for a one-off match, and the plan was for Tendulkar to team up with the late, great spinner, Shane Warne.
McGuire explained during the earlier years of the BBL that the franchise found it hard to keep hold of its best players and he thought he needed some sort of attraction to the fans.
In a video, McGuire told Melbourne Stars:
“I was just thinking about the international angle because I was lobbying at times when they started taking all our players. Ridiculously, some were being picked up and not even playing. You’d have to go all the way to Tasmania, sit on the team bus, and then not get a game.”
A Vision for the Future
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Melbourne Stars Wanted Tendulkar for One Big Match
McGuire was adamant that Tendulkar would have made the fixture one of Australia’s biggest cricket games.
“I said, ‘Well, if you’re going to take four of my batsmen or four of my bowlers, at least allow me to bring in one international player’. And I actually said at one stage, ‘If I can go and get Sachin Tendulkar, I’ll fill this ground five times over.’”
The former chairman admitted he had visions of the batting legend turning out with Warne for a grand final game.
He recalled:
“I said, ‘Just for one game, if we get him to come and play in the grand final. You’ve taken three or four of my best batsmen, so let me bring in one. Let me get Sachin Tendulkar as our batsman and Warnie as our bowler, and let’s see how many people turn up. We’d have to put screens out in the park. It would be the biggest cricket match in Australian history, all in one night at a Big Bash T20 game.”
A Shared Field
Tendulkar and Warne Later Shared the Field
Despite the Big Bash proposal never coming to light, Tendulkar and Warne did eventually play in the same team during the 2015 Cricket All Stars series in the United States. The Indian legend would then turn out in the 2020 Bushfire Cricket Bash in Australia, raising money for fire victims. Fans would witness Tendulkar in yellow for the first time during the match.
A Missed Opportunity
Tendulkar was in no intention of coming out of retirement, and the new finding highlights how close we came to seeing the best cricketer of all time in Big Bash colours.
