Stand-up comedian Munavar Faruqui stole the show in the opening match of the Indian Street Premier League (ISPL) on Wednesday as he took the wicket of Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
Faruqui, bowling medium pace for team Khiladi XI, sent back Master's 11 captain Tendulkar on 30 in the 5th over of the special match which took place after the ISPL opening ceremony.
The small crowd present at the Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane went berserk after Faruqui took the wicket with a wide delivery outside off-stump which Tendulkar tried to hit behind the stumps towards the fine-leg fence but ended up top-edging and getting caught at gully instead by Naman Ojha.
Faruqui also took a catch to dismiss Yusuf Pathan off the bowling of actor Prateik Babbar in the 7th over. Pathan was out for 21 runs.
The Master's 11 managed 95 runs in 10 overs for the loss of 7 wickets with Tendulkar and Pathan scored the most runs.
Tendulkar, who is an investor and Core Committee Member of the ISPL 2024, had opened the batting with J&K para cricket team captain Amir Hussain Lone in the match.
The Master Blaster was also seen dancing to the Oscar-winning song Naatu Naatu with team owners Akshay Kumar, Ram Charan and Suriya.
All about ISPL 2024
The ISPL is a T10 cricket tournament which consists of 6 teams owned by actors from the Hindi and South industries. 18 matches will be played in the first season from March 6 to 15 at the Thane stadium mentioned above.
All the 6 participating teams will play against each other in a round-robin format after which the top 4 will qualify for the semi-finals.
The tournament aims to unearth hidden talents in India and present a golden opportunity for them to showcase their skills in front of a larger audience and transform their cricketing dreams into reality.
