Lionel Messi to visit India for friendly cricket match with Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Tendulkar at Wankhede Stadium

Lionel Messi is slated to visit three Indian cities for football workshops across Mumbai, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram. His visit to the country is scheduled for December this year and the event will be held at the Wankhede Stadium, Eden Gardens, and Greenfield International Stadium. After the football workshops are done, there are plans to accommodate Messi to play a cricket match alongside the legendary MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

If all goes well, even Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma will be taking part in this match, which is earmarked to be a seven-a-side fixture, according to reports. The event organizers for Messi's arrival have also asked the Mumbai Cricket Association to proceed with arrangements of the match at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, where India won the 2011 World Cup. This event will be called 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.

This is not the first time Messi is coming to India, however, the upcoming visit is going to be his first in 14 years. In 2011, Messi and the Argentina national team played a friendly match of football against Venezuela at the famous Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. His visit to the country once again definitely poses to be a sell-out show as cricket and football are slated to collaborate.

Notably, the Indian cricket team is extremely passionate about football. They start their warm-up and training sessions ahead of matches with football drills. Players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Yuvraj Singh have also played friendly football matches with several Bollywood stars in the past. As a result, everyone in the cricketing fraternity will be excited to meet and greet Messi - arguably the greatest footballer of all time.