MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni (Credit: Twitter)

The Bushfire Cricket Bash looks set to feature legendary players not only from Australia but also from other countries including India. Cricket Australia confirmed on Sunday, an all-star T20 match will be played as a curtain-raiser to the Big Bash League final on February 8, with Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting to skipper the two teams.

Along with them,  Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Justin Langer, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson and Alex Blackwell will also take part. On the other hand, former men’s Test and ODI skipper Steve Waugh and former Australian women’s player Mel Jones will also be involved in a non-playing capacity. On the same day, a women’s T20 international between Australia and India at Junction Oval in Melbourne will also take place.

There will be fundraising initiatives across all three matches and all money raised will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund. The Bushfire Cricket Bash will be played in the afternoon and  will act as a curtain raiser for the BBL Final, according to Cricket Australia.

Australia
Adam Gilchrist (L), Ricky Ponting (C) and Shane Warne (R) (Credits: Cricket Australia)

MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar set to play?

It looks like India stars Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni could also be part of the star-studded charity game. Both Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne have vowed to take out their address books and contact big names in the game to come and play the match.

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“Warnie has got his address book out and is contacting his vast array of contacts around the world to see if he can fill the remaining spots,” former Australia women team’s player Alex Blackwell told reporters.

On the other hand, Ponting said that he and Warne would not hesitate in reaching out to the big names and asking them to come forward and help the Australians. He said that the likes of Tendulkar and Dhoni have been contacted for the game.

“People have been speaking to some of the players from different countries, like the Tendulkars and [MS] Dhonis and those sort of guys. We can only reach out to them and see if they want to help out. It has been a pretty tragic time,” Ponting said.

“All those guys have toured here and have had great times in Australia. Sometimes it can be amazing what people will do to help others out in difficult times. We can only ask. Warnie has most of them on speed dial so he’ll be reaching out to them over coming days,” he added.

Well, it would not be surprising at all if the likes of MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar decide to play the game. Cricket has a long history of organising charity games to raise money for victims of significant natural disasters. In 2004, a host of big names had played the World XI v Asia XI game at the MCG to help those affected by the tsunami. The likes of Ponting, Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Muttiah Muralidaran were some of the big names in the game.

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