Former India openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been named captains of the two new franchises at Legend League Cricket (LLC). Sehwag will lead Gujarat Lions, and Gambhir takes charge of India Capitals.
The upcoming edition of LLC will feature four teams contesting 16 matches across six cities. It starts on September 16 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata followed by games in Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur.
“I am excited to get back to the cricket ground again,” Sehwag said on his appointment. “I have personally always believed in playing fearless cricket and I will continue to propagate the same brand of cricket here too. We are extremely excited and eagerly waiting for the draft to pick our team.”
Gambhir said: “I have always believed cricket is a team game and a captain is as good as his team. While I will be leading the India Capitals team, I will be pushing for a spirited team who are passionate and eager to go out and win as a team.”
LLC had also announced that former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly will lead India Maharajas in a curtain-raiser exhibition match against a World Giants team, led by former England captain Eoin Morgan, on September 16.
In all, 53 former players have been signed by the league, including Muthiah Muralidaran, Misbah-ul-Haq, Jonty Rhodes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Ross Taylor and Dale Steyn.
While the Lions and Capitals squads are yet to be firmed up, the squads for Maharajas and Giants are as follows:
India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Stuart Binny, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Reetinder Singh Sodhi
World Giants: Eoin Morgan (capt), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muthiah Muralidaran, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin (wk)
Tendulkar to lead India legends in Road Safety World Series
Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, will captain defending champions India Legends in the second edition of the Road Safety World Series (RSWS).
The tournament, aimed at creating awareness on road safety, also features teams from Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Bangladesh, England and, for the first time, New Zealand. It starts on September 10 in Kanpur, with other games set to be played in Indore, Dehradun and Raipur, where the final will be played on October 1.