Sachin Tendulkar will play for Mumbai Indians in CLT20, says IPL official

Sachin Tendulkar may have announced his retirement from Indian Premier League but the veteran cricketer is likely to don the Mumbai Indians jersey during the upcoming edition of Champions League T20 which will be held in India from September 17 to October 6.

"The prospects of Sachin playing for IPL champions Mumbai Indians in the Champions League T20 is bright," a senior IPL official told PTI today.

"Since the tournament will be held in India this time, the MI management has requested Tendulkar to atleast consider playing this tournament. MI has a huge fan base all over India and Tendulkar's presence definitely becomes a big factor," the official added.

Tendulkar announced his retirement from IPL at the end of the final match but what might prompt him to take part in the Champions League is the timing of the tournament.

"Since Sachin has already retired from ODIs, he won't get a lot of match practice before the Ranji Trophy. The format may be T20 but some serious 'match-time' out there in the middle will help him get into the groove as he prepares for the tough South Africa tour," the official added.

However it is not clear whether Mumbai Indians skipper Ricky Ponting will be summoned by the franchise for the CLT20 tournament considering he didn't set the stage on fire while playing in the six matches of the IPL.

Another former India captain Rahul Dravid has already made it clear that Champions League T20 will be the last tournament of his competitive career.

According to sources in the BCCI, there is a plan to take the tournament to smaller centres which can evoke better response than the top cities where the tournament hasn't really got the level of acceptance that one would have expected.

"Dharamshala, Ranchi are some of the centres which are being looked at possible choices for hosting CLT20 matches," sources said.

© PTI