Lionel Messi will hold football workshops in three Indian cities: Mumbai, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram. His visit to the country is set for December of this year, with events hosted at Wankhede Stadium, Eden Gardens, and Greenfield International Stadium. After the football clinics, there are plans for Messi to play cricket alongside the renowned MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
According to sources, Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma will play in this seven-a-side encounter if all goes as planned. The event organizers for Messi’s visit have also requested the Mumbai Cricket Association to proceed with the match’s plans at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, where India won the World Cup in 2011. This event will be dubbed the ‘GOAT Cup’.
“Messi will be at Wankhede Stadium on December 14. He is likely to play a cricket match, too, with former and current cricketers. The organisers will come up with a complete schedule once everything is finalised,” an MCA source was quoted as saying in a report by Indian Express.
Messi has been to India in the past, but not since 14 years ago. In December 2011, Messi and the Argentina national football team played the friendly match against Venezuela at Kolkata rooted Salt Lake Stadium. The entry back to the country will be a sellout performance since cricket and football will merge.
Notably, the Indian cricket squad is quite interested about football. They begin their warm-up and training sessions before matches with football drills. MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Yuvraj Singh are just some of the players who have in the past played friendly football matches with several Bollywood stars. Consequently, all people in the cricketing world will be excited to meet and greet Messi who is most likely to be the greatest footballer of all times.
