The first T20 match of the Cricket All Stars League between Sachin's Blasters and Warne's Warriors was held at the Citi Field Stadium in New York City on Saturday, 7 November.
The fans across the world saw Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag open the innings together yet again after a long time and they were treated with some breathtaking shots from both the batsmen especially Viru. But people also missed the presence of Sourav Ganguly who did not feature in the first T20.
Everybody were asking the same question - "Where is Dada?" The fans were not aware of the fact that Ganguly had not even reached New York when the first T20 was being played. However, they knew that Ganguly was practising in the nets prior to the Cricket Al Stars T20 series. They also knew that Ganguly had 'threatened' Tendulkar to let him open the innings or else he will fly back to Kolkata.
Good news is, 'Dada' will be reaching New York on Monday after attending the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the morning in Mumbai. And the fans can expect some classy off-side drives and the famous Warne-Ganguly battle.
"Sourav to fly on 9th midnight to play at Houston and LA. Been training for a week. Will be fun to see him there. He is keen and looking forward," Cricket historian and journalist Boria Majumdar told the reporters on Sunday.
Tendulkar and Gangluy were the most succesful ODI opening partners in the 50-over format and their record 26-century partnerships is yet to be broken. No wonder, the fans around the world want to see them bat again.
In the first T20, Tendulkar and Sehwag opened the innings for Sachin's Blasters and they added 85 runs in just eight overs. There'll be a question in people's mind -- who will open the batting with Sehwag in Houston during the 2nd T20 match of the Cricket All Stars League on Wednesday 11 November. For that we will have to wait and watch.
Warne's Warriors beat Sachin's Blasters in the first T20 of the three-match series by six wickets. Shane Warne himself was adjudged the man of the match for his outstanding spell of spin bowling. Later, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting powered the Warriors to a comfortable victory.
