Legends League Cricket is a global T20 cricket league featuring some retired international cricketers playing competitive matches with each other. The 1st season of Legends League Cricket was held at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground, Muscat in January 2022, featuring three teams – India, Rest of Asia and Rest of the World whereas the new season of Legends League Cricket is held in India from September 16 to October 8 to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The first match was played as a charity match to celebrate 75 years of independence between the earlier teams Indian Maharajas and World Giants on 16th of September in the Eden Gardens. The City of Joy witnessed a thrilling special benefit T20 match between the Indian Maharajas and the World Giants where the Indian Maharajas won the benefit match. The Maharajas, led by Harbhajan Singh, chased down a 171-run target and won the match by six wickets in 18.4 overs. Tanmay Srivastava and Yusuf Pathan starred with the bat for the Maharajas with half-centuries, while Pankaj Singh rolled back the years with his medium pace bowling, taking 5/26 in the match. The proceeds of the match, as a part of the celebrations of 75 years of India’s Independence, will go to Kapil Dev’s Khushii Foundation, which supports girl child education to support the cause.
Four teams are a part of Legends League Cricket 2022 held this month. These are India Capitals, Manipal Tigers, Bhilwara Kings, and Gujarat Giants, the tournament will be played in a double-round robin format of competing. Hence, each team will face the other 3 teams twice during the league stage; playing a total of 6 matches in the tournament.The top three teams in the points table will qualify for playoffs against each other.
The squads of the above mentioned teams are as follows:
Bhilwara Kings
Irfan Pathan (C), Yusuf Pathan, Monty Panesar, Naman Ojha (wicket-keeper), William Porterfield, Samit Patel, Fidel Edwards, Matt Prior (wicket-keeper), Sreesanth, Nick Compton, Tim Bresnan, Owais Shah, Tino Best and Sudeep Tyagi
Gujarat Giants
Virender Sehwag (C), Chris Gayle, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Ajantha Mendis, Manvinder Bisla (wicket-keeper), Lendl Simmons, Stuart Binny, Mitchell McClenaghan, Kevin O’Brien, Daniel Vettori, Ashoke Dinda, Joginder Sharma, Graeme Swann, Richard Levi, Chris Tremlett and Elton Chigumbura
India Capitals
Gautam Gambhir (C), Ravi Bopara, Pravin Tambe, Denesh Ramdin (wicket-keeper), Ashgar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Liam Plunkett, Rajat Bhatia, Mashrafe Mortaza, John Mooney, Prosper Utseya, Ross Taylor, Hamilton Masakazda, Jacques Kallis, Farveez Maharoof and Pankaj Singh
Manipal Tigers
Harbhajan Singh (C), Brett Lee, Muttiah Muralitharan, Phil Mustard (wicket-keeper), Mohammad Kaif, Ryan Sidebottom, Lance Klusener, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Romesh Kaluwithrana (wicket-keeper), Reetinder Sodhi, Darren Sammy, Corey Anderson, Imran Tahir, Parvinder Awana and VRV Singh
The coming days will see some thrilling and nail biting matches between our favorite legends who have recently retired from cricket. It’s a chance to see all those players playing again on the field against each other. Star Sports Network is the official broadcaster of Legends League Cricket 2022 Season 2 in India so the live telecast of all the matches will be available on Star Sports Network. The online live streaming of the matches will be available on Disney+ Hotstar platform.
