Sachin Tendulkar Called and Asked Me to Play for Mumbai Indians, Thought It Was a Joke: Luke Wright

England cricketer Luke Wright revealed recently how cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar gave him a call and asked him to play for Mumbai Indians in one of the early editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Wright, whose penchant for big shots and canny medium pace bowling made him one a natural fit in the shortest format of the game, thought at first that someone was playing a joke on him.

“I remember missing out on one of the IPLs actually. I thought it was a joke – Sachin Tendulkar rang me to go and play for the Mumbai Indians in one of the first IPLs, and I obviously thought it was the lads taking the mick,” Wright told The Greatest T20 podcast.

“I remember talking to the ECB about it, and it was me and Ravi Bopara both got told that if we were to go, we would be pretty much giving up playing for England. Whereas you look now and England are paying their compensations to go and play.

“I don’t think back then they appreciated that sharing the dressing room [would be like] with, well Sachin obviously for one.

“If I had been able to have the experience with these franchises and different leagues before playing for England, which a lot of the players are doing either during or before, now, is such an advantage.”

Wright would have to wait until 2012 to finally make his bow in the cash-rich league when he bagged a contract with the now-defunct Pune Warriors franchise.

However, the all-rounder revealed that the insight he gained thanks to rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars in the game as well as having to play in different conditions helped him become a much better player later in his career.

“When I went to Pune, you got Yuvraj [Singh], [Aaron] Finch, Angelo Mathews, [Ross] Taylor, you can reel off all these names, and you just stood there in the nets, learning how they go about it, asking questions, they’re giving you tips, and that was just huge for me as a learning curve, and you’re then playing in different conditions.

“In terms of learning, it’s the best. It’s under pressure, you’re there as an overseas player, people expect you to perform, but you are learning.

“I think, I became a far better player probably when I was 27, 28 because of those experiences than at times when I was playing for England.”