2023 Legends League Cricket Masters
The 2023 Legends League Cricket Masters or LLC Masters (also known as Skyexch.net Legends League Cricket Masters for sponsorship reasons)[1] 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.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
| Dates | 10 – 20 March 2023 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd. |
| Cricket format | T20 |
| Host(s) | Qatar |
| Champions | Asia Lions (1st title) |
| Runners-up | World Giants |
| Participants | 3 |
| Matches | 8 |
| Player of the series | Upul Tharanga (Asia Lions) |
| Most runs | Upul Tharanga (Asia Lions) (221) |
| Most wickets | Sohail Tanvir (Asia Lions) (7) |
| Official website | https://www.llct20.com |
The league was organized by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd.
For the third edition of the league, 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.[8] 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.
Squads
Source: ESPN Cricinfo
 India Maharajas Coach: Lance Klusener |
Asia Lions Coach: Dav Whatmore | World Giants Coach: Lalchand Rajput |
|---|---|---|
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Venue
Third edition of the league was hosted under the aegis of Qatar Cricket Association at West End Park International Cricket Stadium.[10]
| Venue | City | Country | Capacity | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West End Park International Cricket Stadium | Doha | Qatar | 14,500 | 8 (Finals) |
New Rules
Impact Player
- Along with the starting XI, teams would name four substitutes in their team sheet at the toss, and use one of the four during the match.
- The player can replace any member of the starting XI at any point before the end of the 14th over of either innings, and would be able to bat and bowl his full allotment of overs.
- The tactical scope of the Impact Player rule is vast, with no real restriction on the role he can play. For example, the Impact Player can replace a batter who has already been dismissed, and still get to bat - as long as the team only uses 11 batters or he could replace a bowler who has already sent down a few overs and still get to bowl his full four-over quota.
Points Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | World Giants | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0.001 |
| 2 | Asia Lions (C) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | −0.593 |
| 3 | India Maharajas | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0.512 |
(C) Champions Advanced to the final Advanced to the eliminator
League stage
The schedule was published on the official website on 27 February 2023.
All times are according to Arabian Standard Time (UTC+03:00).
Asia Lions 165/6 (20 overs) |
v |
India Maharajas 156/8 (20 overs) |
- Asia Lions won the toss and elected to bat.
- Impact Player Sub: Parvinder Awana for Ashok Dinda (India Maharajas).
World Giants 166/8 (20 overs) |
v |
India Maharajas 164/5 (20 overs) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
- Impact Player Sub: Pravin Tambe for Pragyan Ojha (India Maharajas) and Ricardo Powell for Ross Taylor (World Giants).
Asia Lions 99/3 (10 overs) |
v |
World Giants 64/5 (10 overs) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to field.
- The match was reduced to 10 overs per side due to rain.
Asia Lions 157/5 (20 overs) |
v |
India Maharajas 159/0 (12.3 overs) |
Robin Uthappa 88* (39) |
- India Maharajas won the toss and elected to field.
- Impact Player Sub: Isuru Udana for Shoaib Akhtar (Asia Lions).
India Maharajas 136/9 (20 overs) |
v |
World Giants 139/7 (18.4 overs) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to field.
- Impact Player Sub: Ricardo Powell for Brett Lee (World Giants).
World Giants 150/3 (20 overs) |
v |
Asia Lions 130 (19.1 overs) |
- Asia Lions won the toss and elected to field.
- Impact Player Sub: Isuru Udana for Abdur Razzak (Asia Lions) and Ricardo Powell for Hashim Amla (World Giants).
Knockout Stage
| Eliminator | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | World Giants | 147/4 (20 overs) | |||||||
| 2 | Asia Lions | 191/5 (20 overs) | 2 | Asia Lions | 148/3 (16.1 overs) | ||||
| 3 | India Maharajas
| 106 (16.4 overs) | |||||||
Eliminator
Asia Lions 191/5 (20 overs) |
v |
India Maharajas 106 (16.4 overs) |
- Asia Lions won the toss and elected to bat.
- Impact Player Sub: Isuru Udana for Asghar Afghan (Asia Lions) and Pravin Tambe for Harbhajan Singh (India Maharajas).
Final
World Giants 147/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Asia Lions 148/3 (16.1 overs) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
- Impact Player Sub: Isuru Udana for Abdur Razzak (Asia Lions) and Ricardo Powell for Paul Collingwood (World Giants).
Statistics
Most runs
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Upul Tharanga |
Asia Lions | 6 | 6 | 221 | 69 | |||||||||
| Gautam Gambhir |
India Maharajas | 4 | 4 | 215 | 68 | |||||||||
| Tillakaratne Dilshan |
Asia Lions | 6 | 6 | 191 | 58 | |||||||||
 Jacques Kallis |
World Giants | 4 | 3 | 142 | 78* | |||||||||
| Robin Uthappa |
India Maharajas | 5 | 5 | 137 | 88* | |||||||||
| Source: ESPNcricinfo | ||||||||||||||
Most wickets
| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | Wkts | BBI | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sohail Tanvir |
Asia Lions | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3/27 | |||||||||
 Abdur Razzak |
Asia Lions | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2/2 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Brett Lee |
World Giants | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3/18 | |||||||||
 Christopher Mpofu |
World Giants | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3/16 | |||||||||
 Tino Best |
World Giants | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3/20 | |||||||||
| Source: ESPNcricinfo | ||||||||||||||
Broadcasters
Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar and FanCode were the official broadcasters of this league in India.[11]
References
- "Legends League Cricket announces title sponsor of LLC Masters". Hindustan Times. 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
- "Qatar Cricket to Host next season of Legends League Cricket Masters in Doha". Legends League Cricket. 7 January 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- "Legends League Cricket Announces Schedule for LLC Masters in Qatar". News 18. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- "Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar set to play for Asia Lions in Legends League Cricket 2023". India Today.
- "Aaron Finch joins Legends League Cricket Masters". www.llct20.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- "DISNEY STAR ACQUIRES TV BROADCAST RIGHTS FOR LLC MASTERS". www.llct20.com. Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- "Legends League Cricket 2023: Asia Lions, World Giants And India Maharajas Announce Captains". Zee News. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
- "Legends League Cricket 2023: Asia Lions, World Giants And India Maharajas Announce Captains". Zee News. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- "Suresh Raina to play for India Maharajas in Legends League Cricket". ANI News. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- "Legends League Cricket (LLC 2023) Live Streaming: Check full schedule, teams, squads | When and where to watch LIVE match". Zee Biz. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- "Legends League Cricket (LLC) Masters becomes the first Indian Cricket League to have two streaming partners- Disney+ Hotstar and FanCode". www.llct20.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.