Blast from the past: Legends of world cricket getting ready to go toe to toe across two leagues | Cricket News – Times of India

The legends are coming, not just in a trickle or dozens but in hordes. One could be in for copious quantities of legends cricket in the next three weeks – sometimes same cricketers in different leagues. Road Safety World Series and Legends League Cricket T20 will take over the telly once the Asia Cup ends in Dubai and before the World Cup starts in Australia. If it comes across as an overdose, don’t say we have not warned you.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are associated with the two different leagues in different ways. Brian Lara, Chris Gayle, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Shane Watson, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brett Lee, Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori, irfan Pathan… you name any retired cricketer and he will be there. It will be a big test of the popularity for the two tournaments – who will attract more crowds and more TRPs?
Tendulkar’s Road Safety World Series (RSWS) is scheduled to be played from September 10 to October 1 in Kanpur, Raipur, Indore and Dehradun. It will be an international event – between countries. Teams from Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies besides India are taking part in the tournament that is being event-managed by Sunil Gavaskar’s PMG.
The Legends League Cricket, on the other hand, is an IPL-style franchise-based four-team league to be held across cities like Kolkata, Cuttack, New Delhi, Lucknow and Jodhpur. Adani Group, GMR Group, Manipal Group and Bhilwara Group have been sold the franchises and each of them has appointed their own support staff too – all legends of course. This tournament runs from September 17 to October 5. This tournament has the ‘blessings’ of Sourav Ganguly, according to the organisers, if not his participation.
The payment structures, although not fully revealed, also appear quite meaty, with the LLC fixing $ 1 million salary cap to each of its franchises, while the payouts range between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 5 crore in the Road Safety league, which has the likes of Tendulkar and Lara, mega stars of yesteryears. Then there are players like Irfan, who has signed up for both leagues. “I will start with Road Safety and then move to Legends League,” says the former India all-rounder.
Suresh Raina, who recently announced retirement from all forms of cricket, has enrolled for the Road Safety League.
The big concern is the overlap of the schedules – could it have been avoided?
“We announced our schedule some six months back, the other league has decided its dates late. Our players are locked and they will be with us during our event,” says Raman Raheja, the co-founder of Legends League, who initially managed to rope in Ganguly.
“Sourav would have played the charity match before the league kicks off but due to his administrative commitments, he cannot but his blessings are with our league,” says Raheja.
The Road Safety tournament was to be held in February initially but the Covid situation and required permissions delayed the window.
“The Legends League held their first edition overseas (in Oman) and now they are holding it in India. If they had a different window, the players could have taken part in both leagues,” said a series organiser.
Road Safety World Series
Dates: September 10 to October 1
Venues: Kanpur, Raipur, Indore and Dehradun. Kanpur will host the opener and Raipur will host the two semi-finals and final

(TOI file photo)
Format: Inter-national
Squads:
India Legends: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, S Badrinath, Stuart Binny, Naman Ojha(WK), Manpreet Gony, Pragyan Ojha, Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Rajesh Pawar and Rahul Sharma.
Australia Legends: Shane Watson (captain), Alex Doolan, Ben Dunk, Brad Hodge, Brad Haddin, Stuart Clark, Lee, Bryce McCain, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, George Horlin, Krejza, Hastings, Nannes, Nathan Reardon and Chadd Sayers.
New Zealand Legends: Ross Taylor (captain), Jacob Oram, Jamie How, Jason Spice, Kyle Mills, Scott Styris, Shane Bond, Dean Brownlie, Bruce Martin, Neil Broom, Anton Devcich, Craig McMillan, Gareth Hopkins, Hamish Bennett and Aaron Redmond.
England Legends: Ian Bell (captain), Nicholas Compton, Phil Mustard, Chris Tremlett, Darren Maddy, Darren Stevens, James Tindall, Rikki Clarke, Stephen Parry, Tim Ambrose, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Schofield, Jade Dernback and Mal Loye.
West Indies Legends: Brian Lara (captain), Danza Hyatt, Devendra Bishoo, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor, Kirk Edwards, Marlon Ian Black, Narsingh Deonarine, Sulieman Benn, Daren Powell, William Perkins, Dario Barthley, Dave Mohammed and Krishmar Santokie.
Sri Lanka Legends: Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Kaushalya Weeraratne, Mahela Udawatte, Rumesh Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Silva, Isuru Udana, Chamara Kapugedera, Chaminda Vaas, Chaturanga De Silva, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Dhammika Prasad, Dilruwan Perera, Dilshan Munaweera, Ishan Jayaratne, Jeevan Mendis, Nuwan Kulsekara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga and Thisara Perera.
South Africa Legends: Jonty Rhodes (captain), Alviro Petersen, Andrew Puttick, Eddie Leie, Garnett Kruger, Henry Davids, Jacques Rudolph, Johan Botha, J Van de Wath, Lance Klusener, L Norris Jones, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Van Wyk, T Tshabalala, Vernon Philander and Zander de Bruyn.
Bangladesh Legends: Shahadat Hossain (captain), Abdur Razzak, Alamgir Kabir, Aftab Ahmed, Alok Kapali, Mamun-ur-Rashed, Nazmus Sadat, Dhiman Ghosh, Dolar Mahmud, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Sharif, Mehrab Hossain, Elias Sunny, Mohammed Nazimuddin, Abul Hasan and Tushar Imran.
Legends League Cricket
Dates: September 16 to October 5
Venues: Kolkata, Lucknow, New Delhi, Cuttack and Jodhpur
Format: Franchise-based league
Teams:
Gujarat Giants: Owner: Adani Sportsline
Squad: Virender Sehwag (captain), Parthiv Patel, Chris Gayle, Elton Chigumbura, Chris Tremlett, Richard Levi, Graeme Swann, Joginder Sharma, Ashok Dinda, Daniel Vettori, Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Binny, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lendl Simmons, Manvinder Bisla and Ajantha Mendis.
India Capitals: Owner: GMR Sports
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Ravi Bopara, Farveez Maharoof, Mitchell Johnson, Jacques Kallis, Pankaj Singh, Ross Taylor, Prosper Utseya, John Mooney, Mashrafe Mortaza, Hamilton Masakadza, Rajat Bhatia, Liam Plunkett, Asghar Afghan, Dinesh Ramdin and Pravin Tambe.
Manipal Tigers: Owner: Manipal Education & Medical Group
Squad: Harbhajan Singh (captain), Brett Lee, Andrew Flintoff, VRV Singh, Parvinder Awana, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Lance Klusener, Ryan Sidebottom, Mohammad Kaif, Phil Mustard, Corey Anderson, Imran Tahir, Daren Sammy and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Bhilwara Kings: Owner: Bhilwara Group
Squad: Irfan Pathan (captain), Yusuf Pathan, Sudeep Tyagi, Tino Best, Owais Shah, Tim Bresnan, Shane Watson, S Sreesanth, Nick Compton, Matt Prior, Samit Patel, Fidel Edwards, William Porterfield, Naman Ojha and Monty Panesar.