Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi likely to star in a T20 league with four ten-over innings

Almost 12 years after the first Twenty20 International (T20I) was played, we saw a new format of cricket- T10 - being played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). And now months after the conclusion of that tournament, we might see another interesting development in the 'gentleman's game'.

According to a report in Pune Mirror, 911Marketing and Events Pvt Ltd, an Indian company, are planning to launch a new T20 league, which will be named World Masters League. The matches will be played in the T10 format but with two innings just like a Test. This essentially means a 40-over game — like a T20 — but with four, instead of two innings.

The proposed league will have four innings of 10 overs each. The above image is for representational purpose. Getty

To attract eyeballs, the organisers have thought of hosting the league all over the world with some of hte biggest names of world cricket. Instead of several teams, the matches might be played between Asia XI and World XI.

Players like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara are among the wishlist for Asia XI. Brett Lee, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum may be invited to play for the World XI.

The league will have a series of games which will be played in the United Kingdom in June-July, North America in September-October, the UAE in December followed by a few matches in March-April in Australia.

The report adds that for the games are to be authorised, the permission of the host board is a must.

911 Marketing and Events Pvt Ltd is an experiential marketing firm based out of India and have been involved in the hosting of World Kabaddi League. They were also involved in arranging ground entertainment, venue branding and press conferences for the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and now-defunct Deccan Chargers.