Thursday 01 / May / 2025
Muscat: Shahid Afridi, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Shoaib Akhtar are among three of the many cricket superstars who will be coming to the Sultanate of Oman next month to take part in the first season of a new tournament, Legends League Cricket.
Featuring three teams comprising players drawn from India, Pakistan, and the rest of the world, the event will feature Twenty20 matches between the star-studded sides, with audiences sure to be entertained wherever they are watching. The matches will be played at Al Amerat Ground in Muscat, which recently held games from the recent ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup.
Team Asia is composed of players from four countries: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The full squad features eight former Pakistan players: legendary paceman Shoaib Akhtar, explosive batsman Shahid Afridi, all-rounders Azhar Mahmood and Misbah Ul Haq, evergreen batsmen Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan, pacer Umar Gul, and skilled opener Mohammed Hafeez.
There are also players from Sri Lanka: former captain and classy opener Sanath Jayasuriya and wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana will both feature, as shall Muttiah Muralitharan, considered to be one of the greatest spinners of all time, as well as veterans Chaminda Vaas, Tillekaratne Dilshan, and Upul Tharanga. One Afghan player (Asghar Afghan) is also part of the team, which has been christened the Asia Lions.
“This is top quality exciting cricket on offer,” said former India player and coach Ravi Shastri, who has been appointed commissioner for Legends League Cricket.
“The ‘lions’ of Asia from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan coming together in one team will definitely give the other two teams a run for their money.
“Let me tell you that you they are absolute champions and a combination of Afridi, Murali, Chaminda, Shoaib Malik are all playing in one team,” he added.
With such a strong lineup, cricket fans all over the world are up for a very competitive and entertaining tournament. The team names and players of the other two teams of India and the rest of the world shall be revealed very soon as well.
“Asia Lions are our team from Asia. We find it a most suited name with the lion-hearted players that feature in the team,” added Raman Raheja, CEO, Legends League Cricket. Shoaib Akhtar running in to bowl and Jayasuriya cutting it over square is what fans will now be most eagerly waiting for.
“The Lions are all set to roar their loudest once again on the cricket field, a place they always belong,” said Raman Raheja, CEO of Legends League Cricket.
