Yesterday marked the beginning of the first edition of Legends League Cricket with the legends of the game locking horns with each other. The competition has only three teams fighting namely India Maharajas, World Giants, and Asia Lions.
Every team plays the other two twice and the top two after the league stage feature in the final. The tournament will be telecasted every day on Sony Ten Sports 1 and Sony Ten Sports 3 until January 29.
The matches commence at 8 PM IST. Let's have a look at the squads.
India Maharajas: Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Badrinath, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha, Manpreet Gony, Hemang Badani, Venugopal Rao, Munaf Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Nayan Mongia, and Amit Bhandari.
Asia Lions: Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kamran Akmal, Chaminda Vaas, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Azhar Mahmood, Upul Tharanga, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Yousuf, and Umar Gul, Asghar Afghan.
World Giants: Daren Sammy, Daniel Vettori, Brett Lee, Jonty Rhodes, Kevin Pietersen, Imran Tahir, Owais Shah, Herschelle Gibbs, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Corey Anderson, Monty Panesar, Brad Haddin, Kevin O’Brien, and Brendan Taylor.
Let's now have a look at some interesting head-to-head contests.
Virender Sehwag vs Shoaib Akhtar
Nostalgia hits hard when you see these two names in the same sentence. Virender Sehwag, who is injured at the moment will likely play when the teams meet for the second time.
That is when we expect this head-to-head to thrive. Over the years, we may not see Sehwag in International cricket, but we have witnessed him playing in his very style even in matches like these where the legends of the game come together.
Akhtar, in a very similar way, bowls slower than he used to for obvious reasons, but he still bowls above average for people of his age. A must-watch head-to-head that will excite every cricket fan of the 90s.
Harbhajan Singh vs Shahid Afridi
Harbhajan Singh's "doosra" will be back but he will have to deceive "Boom boom" Afridi to claim the contest. A spinner vs an explosive batsman is always intriguing to watch and things get even better when there's an "India vs Pakistan" feel to it.
While Harbhajan continued playing in the IPL until the very latest season, Shahid Afridi will still feature in the upcoming Pakistan Super League, and the urge to show that they've still got it will be high among both of them.
It's an enthralling contest where the result could go either way!
Yuvraj Singh vs Brett Lee
The last time this happened, the Indians jumped from their seats as Yuvraj Singh guided India to one of their finest quarter-final wins and run chase.
Brett Lee was the bowler who Yuvraj struck for the winning four and Lee would be hoping that he can settle some scores. He won't get the World Cup though.
What also makes it very exciting to watch is how courageous Brett Lee was to bowl that over when his nation needed him, despite bleeding from one say, Lee didn't think twice to come ahead. Who do you think comes on top this time?
RP Singh vs Kevin Pietersen
Two players, superstars for their sides in their days, will meet once again. RP Singh was India's spearhead when they lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup, while Pietersen's case has so many moments that defined the career of the English legend.
Two tall men will battle it out and we'll have to see if RP Singh's bowling troubles Pietersen or the latter thrashes the former around the park. Who would be your preferred pick?
Tillakaratne Dilshan vs Munaf Patel
Dilshan loved playing the 'Dil-scoop' while Munaf Patel was always interested to make an impact with his simple yet effective action. A head-to-head battle that may not seem big, we prefer to say that this will be an underrated contest, and we cannot anticipate the winner. Can you?
Let us know your thoughts! Stay tuned with Cricwizz for more updates.
