In the wake of the devastating bush fire that has engulfed Australia, many cricketing icons and sportsperson have come forward for goodwill causes and activities. The Bushfire Cricket Bash, a fund raising charity match that was supposed to take place this Saturday, have been postponed to the next day due to unfavourable weather forecasts. As the squad lists have been released today, two of the most iconic names in cricket- Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara are drafted in the same team. The Aussie legend has shared a clip of the duo practising their signature shots during net practice, and that has taken social media by storm.
On his official Twitter account, Ricky Ponting uploaded a video today morning, a compilation from him and Lara’s practice sessions, where the legendary duo are seen performing their signature shots. He captioned the video with: “If I’m batting three on Sunday, hopefully this guy is on my team and batting four @brianlara.” Check it out here-
If I'm batting three on Sunday, hopefully this guy is on my team and batting four @brianlara pic.twitter.com/dsaXhJTLoU
— Ricky Ponting AO (@RickyPonting) February 6, 2020
Ponting, who will be captaining his team ‘Ponting XI’ on Sunday against his former teammate and another Aussie legend Adam Gilchrist’s ‘Gilchrist XI’, was seen performing his trademark ‘Pull Shot’ in the clip, while Lara, the Windies hall of fame, was exercising the famous ‘Square Cut.’
Coached by none other than the one and only Sachin Tendulkar, the Ponting XI squad includes stars like Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Elyse Villani, Brian Lara, Phoebe Litchfield, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Dan Christian, Luke Hodge, along with Lara and the skipper himself.
Gilchrist will be captaining the Gilchrist XI, with legendary names like Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, Yuvraj Singh, Alex Blackwell, Andrew Symonds, Courtney Walsh, Nick Riewoldt, Peter Siddle, Fawad Ahmed in the team. One more player is yet to be named, and the Aussie cricket team skipper Tim Paine is the coach.
While the fans will be on a treat to witness the legendary former cricketers head to the pitch for the charitable cause, former Aussie hall of fame Shane Warne announced that he will unfortunately miss the match, due to a convocation with the Nelson Mandela Foundation on Sunday.
“Very sad & disappointed to be missing Sunday’s cricket bash game. The reason being – I have an 8am commitment for the Mandela foundation and a walk in Capetown on Tuesday morning at 8am.” Warne tweeted this morning.
He also pulled a jest on his former teammates, asking a lift on a private jet: “No airlines can get me there in time. Happy to play if someone offers up there private plane?”
Very sad & disappointed to be missing Sunday’s cricket bash game. The reason being – I have an 8am commitment for the Mandela foundation and a walk in Capetown on Tuesday morning at 8am. No airlines can get me there in time. Happy to play if someone offers up there private plane?
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) February 6, 2020
The Bushfire Cricket Bash is scheduled on 9th February at the Junction Oval sports ground in Melbourne.
Also read-
Legendary Aussie team of the 90s reuniting for one game to raise funds to combat Aussie bushfire
Classy Shane Warne raises $1 Million for Australian bushfire crisis by auctioning his test cap
