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[Saba Sports News] Sachin Tendulkar graced the launch of the Indian Street Premier League’s (ISPL) inaugural season in Mumbai on January 31. The event revealed the co-ownership of the six franchise teams by notable personalities, including Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan overseeing Kolkata, and Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Suriya, and Ram Charan taking charge of Mumbai, Srinagar, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, respectively.
As an investor and key figure in ISPL, Tendulkar emphasized the pivotal role of co-owners in achieving the league’s goal of discovering and nurturing new cricket talent via a professional, tennis ball cricket format. He reflected on his own beginnings in street cricket, highlighting how those early experiences, devoid of aspirations for national representation, laid the foundation for his illustrious 24-year international career.
Tendulkar’s journey from playing with a tennis ball in Mumbai’s lanes to becoming a mainstay in professional cricket underscores the transformative power of grassroots sports. He shared his initial disbelief at playing alongside much older teammates and his eventual rise through junior cricket ranks, all fueled by a pure love for the game.
Alongside Tendulkar, Ashish Shelar, Ravi Shastri, Amol Kale, and Suraj Samat form the committee steering ISPL, which aims to kick off its first series of matches from March 6 to 15 in Mumbai, as reported by India Today. This initiative marks a significant step in promoting cricket talent from the streets to the national and potentially international stages.