Legends League Cricket: Ganguly to lead India Maharajas against World Giants; full squads here

BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly will lead India Maharajas against the Eoin Morgan-captained World Giants in the Legends League Cricket (LLC) ‘Special Match’ to be played at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on September 16.

The match is being played to celebrate India’s 75th anniversary of Independence Day, the organisers said on Friday (August 12).

“Players from across 10 foreign countries will be participating in this match. The league will commence the next day from September 17, 2022, wherein 4 teams in franchise format will be competing in the Legends League Cricket Franchise format. Overall 15 matches will be played in this season,” the organisers said.

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“This is a proud moment for us that we are celebrating the 75th year of our independence. As a proud Indian, it gives me immense satisfaction to share that we have decided to dedicate this year league to the 75th year of Independence celebration,” said Ravi Shastri, Commissioner, LLC.

As we celebrate India@75 by dedicating the upcoming season, we have a special match between India @IndMaharajasLLC and World @WorldGiantsLLC.
#LegendsLeagueCricket #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav @RaviShastriOfc @Sganguly99 @Eoin16 @AmritMahotsav @anurag_office pic.twitter.com/UYcfJxVX8o

— Legends League Cricket (@llct20) August 12, 2022

The Maharajas squad includes former Indian stars Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh along with a host of retired players.

The Giants line-up has players from 10 countries – Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, West Indies, England, New Zealand, Ireland, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan.

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“As we celebrate India@75 by dedicating the upcoming season, we have a special match between India @IndMaharajasLLC and World @WorldGiantsLLC,” LLC tweeted.

According to the organisers, “Legends League Cricket is a global T20 league where retired cricketing legends come back to play competitive cricket again.”

Legends League Cricket is owned and managed by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd. The first season was held in Oman in January 2022. This international format was contested by three teams, representing India, rest of Asia and the rest of the world. The upcoming season is taking place in India, with a new format, new teams, new players, and a new outlook, in October 2022, they added.

Legends League Cricket: Squads for ‘Special Match’

India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), Stuart Binny, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wicketkeeper), Ashoke Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

World Giants: Eoin Morgan (captain), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wicketkeeper), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin (wicketkeeper).

Dada @SGanguly99 is set to lead the India Maharajas against @Eoin16’s World Giants for the #LegendsLeagueCricket Special Match.
Check out the full squad of the teams. Are you excited?@SGanguly99 @Eoin16 @RaviShastriOfc #BossLogonKaGame #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav pic.twitter.com/Jkt75wsNSo

— Legends League Cricket (@llct20) August 12, 2022