Legends League Cricket is a T20 cricket league featuring players including recently retired international players. The league comprises two formats named as Legends League Cricket (LLCT20) and LLC Masters.
The first season format of LLC Masters, was held at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground, Muscat in January 2022, featuring three teams – India Maharajas, Asia Lions and World Giants. The first season of the LLCT20 format was held in India in September 2022, and featured private-franchise owned teamsacross six major cities. The second format, LLCT20, had been dedicated to the India’s 75th Independence celebrations, dubbed as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. The second season of LLC Masters was recently held in Doha, Qatar in March 2023 which included players like Gautam Gambhir, Shahid Afridi, Aaron Finch, Hashim Amla, Chris Gayle and more.
The league is organised by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd. Former Indian cricketer and India men’s national cricket team coach Ravi Shastri is the Commissioner of the league.
Background
Owned by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt Ltd, the Legends League Cricket is founded by Raman Raheja & Vivek Khushalani. In November 2021, Ravi Shastri was appointed as the Commissioner of the League, immediately after his retirement as the Head Coach of the Indian National Cricket team. Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram is associated with LLC as a member of the Apex Council along with Ravi Shastri. Former captain of the Indian Women’s cricket team, Jhulan Goswami, is the Women’s Empowerment Ambassador for the league and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is the Brand ambassador. To ensure competitive cricket amongst the recently retired cricketers, Legends League Cricket appointed Andrew Leipus as the Director of Sports Science. His role is instrumental in working on the fitness and physical performance of the cricketers.
- Legends League Cricket (LLC) Masters 2023 schedule and squad
LLC Masters
Season 1
The first season of Legends League Cricket Masters was played from 20 to 29 January 2022 in Oman. Whose final match was won by World Giants.
Season 2
The season 2 of LLC Masters (also known as Skyexch.net Legends League Cricket Masters for sponsorship reasons) was a T20 cricket tournament featuring recently retired players, many of them former internationals. It was an international edition and third edition of Legends League Cricket, featuring three teams – India Maharajas, Asia Lions, and World Giants. Qatar Cricket Association hosted the tournament in West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha, Qatar from 10 March 2023 to 20 March 2023.
For the second season of LLC Masters, legendary cricketers Gautam Gambhir (India Maharajas), Shahid Afridi (Asia Lions), and Aaron Finch (World Giants) were chosen to be the captains of their respective teams. The league featured many cricketing legends like Harbhajan Singh, Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Aaron Finch, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, S. Sreesanth amongst others, playing against each other to reignite famous cricketing rivalries of the recent past.
Second edition
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Background
After a successful first edition, LLC announced that a new format will be adopted and league will be held in India between 17 September and 5 October 2022. The new edition adopted a new franchise based format, which was different from the first edition’s region-specific format. Four new teams were launched, each being owned and operated by private ownership. Many ex-international cricketers have confirmed their involvement.
In August, 2022, Ravi Shastri announced that the new league would honour the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of India’s independence with a special commemorative match between India Maharajas and World Giants. The match will be played on 16 September 2022 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with BCCI President and ex-India captain, Sourav Ganguly, and World-Cup winning ex-England captain, Eoin Morgan, leading the respective sides.
The league has announced that this edition will have 15 matches, with the special commemorative match making it a total of 16. It was announced that this edition will be played in 6 different cities. The 6 cities named as venues for the matches are – Kolkata, Lucknow, Delhi, Cuttack, Jodhpur and Rajkot.
The league was broadcast on Star Sports Network acquiring the rights for the India territory.
In September 2022, it was announced that India Maharajas and World Giants will be led by one of India’s most successful opening batters, Virender Sehwag and legendary South African allrounder, Jacques Kallis respectively.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebration special match
Squads
The squads for India Maharajas and World Giants for the match to be played on 16 September 2022 are as follows:
 India Maharajas |
World Giants |
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- On 3 September 2022, Ganguly withdrew from the league citing personal reasons.
Result
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16 September 2022
19:30 (N) Scorecard |
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World Giants
170/8 (20 overs) |
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India Maharajas 175/4 (18.4 overs) |
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Kevin O’Brien 52 (31)
Pankaj Singh 5/26 (4 overs) |
Tanmay Srivastava 54 (39)
Tim Bresnan 3/21 (3 overs) |
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India Maharajas won by 6 wickets
Eden Gardens, Kolkata Umpires: Gayatri Venugopalan (Ind) and Kim Cotton (NZ) Player of the match: Pankaj Singh (India Maharajas) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
Venues
Gardens (Kolkata)
(Lucknow)
(Cuttack)
(Jodhpur)
Cricket grounds hosting the 2022 Legends League Cricket
The matches were played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Barkatullah Khan Stadium in Jodhpur, Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur and Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The Qualifiers were played in Jodhpur and the venue for the final was Jaipur.
| Venue | City | Country | Capacity | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden Gardens | Kolkata | India | 66,000 | 2 |
| Arun Jaitley Stadium | New Delhi | India | 41,842 | 3 |
| BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium | Lucknow | India | 50,000 | 3 |
| Barkatullah Khan Stadium | Jodhpur | India | 40,000 | 4 (Playoffs) |
| Barabati Stadium | Cuttack | India | 48,000 | 3 |
| Sawai Mansingh Stadium | Jaipur | India | 30,000 | 1 (Final) |
| New Delhi | Kolkata | Lucknow | Jodhpur | Cuttack | Jaipur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arun Jaitley Stadium | Eden Gardens | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium | Barkatullah Khan Stadium | Barabati Stadium | Sawai Mansingh Stadium |
| Capacity: 41,842 | Capacity: 66,000 | Capacity: 50,000 | Capacity: 40,000 | Capacity: 48,000 | Capacity: 30,000 |
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Teams
The following teams and their owners were announced as taking part in the tournament:
| Team | Owner | Captain | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bhilwara Kings | LNJ Bhilwara Group | Irfan Pathan | Lalchand Rajput |
| Gujarat Giants | Adani Sportsline | Virender Sehwag | Venkatesh Prasad |
| India Capitals | GMR Group | Gautam Gambhir | Pravin Amre |
| Manipal Tigers | Manipal Education and Medical Group | Harbhajan Singh | John Buchanan |
Squads
Squads for the main tournament were selected through a draft which took place on 2 September 2022.[31][32]
The draft rules were as follows:
- 77 Players to be picked from 5 categories : Batters, Fast Bowlers, Spinners, All-rounders and Wicket Keepers
- Maximum 20 rounds of calling with one call from each team
- Each team will have 120 seconds to make a call in every round
- 18 to 25 players with a minimum of 6 Indian players to form a team
- Lucky draw decides the order of call after every round
| Bhilwara Kings | India Capitals | Gujarat Giants | Manipal Tigers |
|---|---|---|---|
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- On 4 September 2022, Chris Gayle joined the Gujarat Giants.
On 5 September 2022, Corey Anderson, Daren Sammy and Imran Tahir were added by the Manipal Tigers.
On 9 September 2022, Solomon Mire and Ashley Nurse were added by the India Capitals.
On 9 September 2022, Due to unforeseen reasons, Mashrafe Mortaza missed out on playing for India Capitals and World Giants.Points tableA total of 12 league matches will be played in a double round robin format with each team playing against every other team twice. Of the four teams, top three teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Pos Team
1 India Capitals
2 Bhilwara Kings
3 Gujarat Giants
4 Manipal Tigers
Source: ESPN CricinfoQualified for the playoffsTie-break criteria
1. Number of wins.
2. Head-to-head results. If this is not applicable, positions are decided by net run rate (NRR).
3. If three or more teams are tied on points and the number of wins, positions are decided by net run rate.Matches
League stage
On 23 August 2022, a tentative schedule for the league stage was announced on the Legends League Cricket Twitter page. On 7 September 2022, the full schedule was announced.
Round 1
Match 1
17 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardIndia Capitals
179/7 (20 overs)vGujarat Giants
180/7 (18.4 overs)Ashley Nurse 103* (43)
Thisara Perera 2/16 (3 overs)Kevin O’Brien 107 (61)
Liam Plunkett 2/23 (3 overs)Gujarat Giants won by 3 wickets
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Umpires: Shubhda Bhosle (Ind) and Kim Cotton (NZ)
Player of the match: Ashley Nurse (India Capitals)- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
Match 2
18 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardManipal Tigers
153/7 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
156/7 (19.4 overs)Mohammad Kaif 73 (59)
Fidel Edwards 4/30 (4 overs)Yusuf Pathan 44 (28)
Ryan Sidebottom 3/38 (4 overs)Bhilwara Kings won by 3 wickets
Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Umpires: Shivani Mishra (Qat) and Gayathrii Venugopal (Ind)
Player of the match: Fidel Edwards (Bhilwara Kings)- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Match 3
19 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardManipal Tigers
120/8 (20 overs)vGujarat Giants
121/8 (17.2 overs)Ravikant Shukla 32 (32)
Tillakaratne Dilshan 2/18 (2 overs)Parthiv Patel 34 (17)
Muthiah Muralidaran 2/10 (2.2 overs)Gujarat Giants won by 2 wickets
Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Shubhda Bhosle (Ind)
Player of the match: Parthiv Patel (Gujarat Giants)- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
Match 4
21 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardIndia Capitals
198/5 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
120 (19.2 overs)Solomon Mire 82 (38)
Yusuf Pathan 3/28 (4 overs)Tanmay Srivastava 27* (30)
Rajat Bhatia 2/6 (1.2 overs)India Capitals won by 78 runs
Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Umpires: Shivani Mishra (Qat) and Gayathrii Venugopal (Ind)
Player of the match: Solomon Mire (India Capitals)- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Match 5
22 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardGujarat GiantsvManipal TigersMatch abandoned without a ball bowled
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Umpires: Shubhda Bhosle (Ind) and Kim Cotton (NZ)- No toss.
Match 6
24 September 2022
19:30
ScorecardIndia CapitalsvBhilwara KingsMatch abandoned without a ball bowled
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Umpires: Shivani Mishra (Qat) and Gayathrii Venugopal (Ind)- No toss.
Round 2[edit]
Match 7
25 September 2022
16:00
ScorecardGujarat Giants
152/7 (20 overs)vIndia Capitals
153/4 (18.5 overs)Tillakaratne Dilshan 75* (59)
Ashley Nurse 2/28 (4 overs)Hamilton Masakadza 50 (34)
Ajantha Mendis 2/26 (4 overs)India Capitals won by 6 wickets
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Shubhda Bhosle (Ind)
Player of the match: Hamilton Masakadza (India Capitals)- India Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
Match 8
26 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardManipal Tigers
175/8 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
172/9 (20 overs)Tatenda Taibu 54 (30)
Tino Best 3/20 (3 overs)Yusuf Pathan 42 (21)
Dilhara Fernando 4/31 (4 overs)Manipal Tigers won by 3 runs
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Umpires: Shivani Mishra (Qat) and Shubhda Bhosle (Ind)
Player of the match: Dilhara Fernando (Manipal Tigers)- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Match 9
27 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardBhilwara Kings
222/4 (20 overs)vGujarat Giants
165 (19.4 overs)William Porterfield 64 (33)
Graeme Swann 1/34 (4 overs)Yashpal Singh 57 (29)
Sreesanth 3/36 (4 overs)Bhilwara Kings won by 57 runs
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Umpires: Shivani Mishra (Qat) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: William Porterfield (Bhilwara KIngs)- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
Match 10
29 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardManipal Tigers
161/5 (20 overs)vIndia Capitals
162/3 (17.2 overs)Jesse Ryder 79 (56)
Liam Plunkett 2/31 (4 overs)Hamilton Masakadza 68* (39)
Muthiah Muralidaran 1/15 (4 overs)India Capitals won by 7 wickets
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Umpires: Narayanan Janani (Ind) and Shubhda Bhosle (Ind)
Player of the match: Hamilton Masakadza (India Capitals)- India Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
- India Capitals qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match.[42]
Match 11
30 September 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardGujarat Giants
186/7 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
187/5 (19.4 overs)Chris Gayle 68 (40)
Yusuf Pathan 2/34 (2 overs)William Porterfield 40 (37)
Graeme Swann 2/21 (3 overs)Bhilwara Kings won by 5 wickets
Barkatullah Khan Stadium, Jodhpur
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: Yusuf Pathan (Bhilwara Kings)- Bhilwara Kings win toss and elected to field.
- Bhilwara Kings qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match.[43]
Match 12
1 October 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardIndia Capitals
183/2 (20 overs)vManipal Tigers
186/7 (20 overs)Denesh Ramdin 64 (51)
Corey Anderson 1/11 (2.1 overs)Ricardo Powell 96 (52)
John Mooney 2/39 (4 overs)Manipal Tigers won by 3 wickets
Barkatullah Khan Stadium, Jodhpur
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: Ricardo Powell (Manipal Tigers)- Manipal Tigers won the toss and elected to field.
- Gujarat Giants qualified for the playoffs and Manipal Tigers were eliminated as a result of this match.
Play-offs[edit]
Bracket[edit]
Qualifier Eliminator Final 1 India Capitals 231/6 (19.3 overs) 1 India Capitals 211/7 (20 overs) 2 Bhilwara Kings 226/5 (20 overs) 2 Bhilwara Kings 107 (18.2 overs) 3 Gujarat Giants 194/9 (20 overs) 2 Bhilwara Kings 195/4 (18.3 overs) Qualifier
2 October 2022
16:00
ScorecardBhilwara Kings
226/5 (20 overs)vIndia Capitals
231/6 (19.3 overs)Shane Watson 65 (39)
Mitchell Johnson 2/51 (4 overs)Ross Taylor 84 (39)
Fidel Edwards 2/54 (4 overs)India Capitals won by 4 wickets
Barkatullah Khan Stadium, Jodhpur
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: Ross Taylor (India Capitals)- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
Eliminator
3 October 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardGujarat Giants
194/9 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
195/4 (18.3 overs)Kevin O’Brien 45 (24)
S. Sreesanth 2/28 (4 overs)William Porterfield 60 (43)
Sreenath Arvind 2/48 (4 overs)Bhilwara Kings won by 6 wickets
Barkatullah Khan Stadium, Jodhpur
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: William Porterfield (Bhilwara Kings)- Gujarat Giants won the toss and chose to bat.
Final
5 October 2022
19:30 (N)
ScorecardIndia Capitals
211/7 (20 overs)vBhilwara Kings
107 (18.2 overs)Ross Taylor 82 (41)
Rahul Sharma 4/30 (4 overs)Shane Watson 27 (19)
Pankaj Singh 2/14 (3 overs)India Capitals won by 104 runs
Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Umpires: Kim Cotton (NZ) and Narayanan Janani (Ind)
Player of the match: Ross Taylor (India Capitals)- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
- India Capitals became the champions of the second season of Legends League Cricket.
Third edition
For the third edition of the league, legendary cricketers Shahid Afridi (Asia Lions), Aaron Finch (World Giants), and Gautam Gambhir (India Maharajas), were chosen to be the captains of their respective teams. The league featured many cricketing legends like Shahid Afridi, Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, S. Sreesanth amongst others, playing against each other to reignite famous cricketing rivalries of the recent past.
The league’s television rights were acquired by Star Sports while digital streaming rights were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar and Fancode.
In the final, Asia Lions beat World Giants by 7 wickets to win their first title.
Viewership
The recent season of LLC Masters, a professional cricket league, held in Doha, Qatar, garnered a digital reach of 985 million viewers, contributing to a total global reach of 1488 million viewers across the world. This digital reach is almost twice that of the previous edition of Legends League Cricket, held in India in 2022, which had a total global reach of 1200 million.
As per reports, the 1st season of Legends League Cricket had a global reach of 703 million cricket fans from around the world. As per reports, it became the most watched International T20 League outside of Pakistan Super League, Indian Premier League, with more viewership than Big Bash, Caribbean Premier League in India.
Broadcasters
- Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar and FanCode are the official broadcasters of this league in India.