Former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh returned to the nets on Sunday as the two geared up for a charity match between Ponting XI and Gilchrist XI which is being played to raise fund for Australia’s bushfire victims at Junction Oval, Melbourne. The bushfire began in September and have left at least 33 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed.
Tendulkar spends 40 minutes in Nets to bat for First Time in 5 years
While Tendulkar who will coach the Ponting XI is also set to come out of retirement at the charity match as he accepted a challenge thrown by superstar Australia women’s team all-rounder Ellyse Perry. Meanwhile, Yuvraj will be playing for Adam Gilchrist’s team.
Ahead of the match, the two Indian cricketers spent some time in the nets to practice. After the practice session, Yuvraj revealed that Tendulkar ended up playing for 40 minutes in the nets. He said in a video to Cricket.com.au., “He said he is going to play just six balls, but he batted for 40 minutes in the nets.”
Earlier, Perry had asked Tendulkar to come out of retirement to bat for an over during the innings break of the star-studded charity match. In a video tweeted by Australian women’s cricket team, Perry can be heard saying: “Hey Sachin, it’s awesome to have you out here in Australia supporting the Bushfire match.”
She further added, “I know you’re coaching one of the teams but a few of us were sitting around last night chatting and we thought it would be absolutely amazing to see you potentially come out of retirement for one over in the innings break out here at Junction Oval.”
Later, Tendulkar revealed in a tweet that he has a shoulder injury but promised that he will come out to bat “against the advice of his doctor”. Tendulkar tweeted in reply to Perry’s challenge on social media, “Sounds great Ellyse. I would love to go out there and bat an over (much against the advice of my doctor due to my shoulder injury). Hope we can generate enough money for this cause, and to get me out there in the middle.”
During the match, he said, “I turned up here as a coach, but for me to go out and bat in the lunch will be interesting. I will be holding a cricket bat after 5 and a half years.”
During the over, Sachin Tendulkar hit a boundary off the first ball, thanks to a misfield by a woman fire-fighter, who had come to field for Ellyse Perry for the special cause.
The teams were:
Gilchrist XI: Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Elyse Villani, Andrew Symonds, Cameron Smith, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed, Courtney Walsh
Ponting XI: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Phoebe Litchfield, Brian Lara, Alex Blackwell, Brad Haddin (wk), Luke Hodge, Brett Lee, Dan Christian, Wasim Akram
In the 10-over-a-side match, former Australia batsman Ricky Ponting and West Indies legend Brian Lara impressed with stroke 26 and 30 runs, respectively.
The Ponting XI scored 104/5 in their allotted 10 overs against Adam Gilchrist-led Gilchrist XI.
