Reports: Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne plan to start new T20 league for retired players

Sachin Tendulkar & Shane Warne are reportedly planning to start a new T20 league

According to a report in a leading Australian newspaper on Friday, cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne are planning to start a new Twenty20 league for ex-international players. Greats like Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Andrew Flintoff are reportedly among the 28 players contacted to be involved in the league which will take place over a three-and-a-half years. The report further added that these players will be offered a contract of US$25,000 per match to take part in the league.

As mentioned earlier, 15 T20 matches have been planned across a three-and-a-half year period, with the first series to be held in September across three cities in the United States of America – namely New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

While Tendulkar and Warne haven’t commented on the matter, Neil Maxwell, who is Lee’s agent, did confirm that the former Australian speedster had received an offer and that he would be seeking approval from Cricket Australia (CA) for his participation.

“I can't see anything wrong with it. It's a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket," Maxwell said.

This development comes in the wake of reports of the Indian-based Essel Group planning to launch a rival body to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and also start their own T20 league, with players like Michael Clarke and David Warner supposedly having been approached.