Overview
- McGuire told the Melbourne Stars’ official podcast in late May 2026 that the club explored bringing retired great Sachin Tendulkar back for a single Big Bash grand‑final match.
- The plan envisioned pairing Tendulkar with the late Shane Warne as a marketing spectacle to attract far larger crowds to the stadium.
- McGuire said the idea grew from frustration over losing several domestic players and his push to allow one international replacement per team.
- The move never happened because Tendulkar remained retired and access to Indian players was tightly restricted at the time by rules and practice.
- Tendulkar and Warne did later appear together in exhibition events in 2015 and 2020, and the revelation highlights ongoing pressures on franchises to use celebrity signings and the wider debate over cross‑border player access in franchise cricket.