Legends League Cricket
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.
| Countries | India |
|---|---|
| Administrator | Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd. |
| Format | T-20 |
| First edition | 2022 |
| Tournament format | Double Round robin, Eliminators and Finals |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Current champion | India Capitals (1st title) |
| Most runs | William Porterfield (267) |
| Most wickets | Pravin Tambe (11) |
| TV | India Star Sports Disney+ Hotstar |
| Website | llct20.com |
| Seasons |
|---|
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.[1][2] The first season of the LLCT20 format was held in India in September 2022, and featured private-franchise owned teams across 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.[3] Former Indian cricketer and India men's national cricket team coach Ravi Shastri is the Commissioner of the league.[4]
Background
Owned by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt Ltd, the Legends League Cricket is founded by Raman Raheja & Vivek Khushalani.[5] 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.[6] Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram is associated with LLC as a member of the Apex Council along with Ravi Shastri.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]
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
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15][16]
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.[17]
The league was broadcast on Star Sports Network acquiring the rights for the India territory.[18]
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.[19]
Squads
The squads for India Maharajas and World Giants for the match to be played on 16 September 2022 are as follows:[20][21][22]
 India Maharajas |
World Giants |
|---|---|
- On 3 September 2022, Ganguly withdrew from the league citing personal reasons.[23]
Result
World Giants 170/8 (20 overs) |
v |
India Maharajas 175/4 (18.4 overs) |
- World Giants won the toss and elected to bat.
Venues
Gardens (Kolkata)
(Lucknow)
(Cuttack)
(Jodhpur)
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.[24][25]
| 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[26] | Irfan Pathan | Lalchand Rajput[27] |
| Gujarat Giants | Adani Sportsline | Virender Sehwag | Venkatesh Prasad[28] |
| India Capitals | GMR Group | Gautam Gambhir | Pravin Amre[29] |
| Manipal Tigers | Manipal Education and Medical Group | Harbhajan Singh | John Buchanan[30] |
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
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- On 4 September 2022, Chris Gayle joined the Gujarat Giants.[33]
- On 5 September 2022, Corey Anderson, Daren Sammy and Imran Tahir were added by the Manipal Tigers.[34]
- On 9 September 2022, Solomon Mire and Ashley Nurse were added by the India Capitals.[35][36]
- On 9 September 2022, Due to unforeseen reasons, Mashrafe Mortaza missed out on playing for India Capitals and World Giants.[37]
Points table
A 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.[38]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India Capitals | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1.001 |
| 2 | Bhilwara Kings | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −0.142 |
| 3 | Gujarat Giants | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −0.366 |
| 4 | Manipal Tigers | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −0.467 |
- Qualified for the playoffs
Tie-break criteria
- Number of wins.
- Head-to-head results. If this is not applicable, positions are decided by net run rate (NRR).
- If three or more teams are tied on points and the number of wins, positions are decided by net run rate.
League stage
On 23 August 2022, a tentative schedule for the league stage was announced on the Legends League Cricket Twitter page.[39] On 7 September 2022, the full schedule was announced.[40][41]
Round 1
India Capitals 179/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Gujarat Giants 180/7 (18.4 overs) |
- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
Manipal Tigers 153/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 156/7 (19.4 overs) |
- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Manipal Tigers 120/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Gujarat Giants 121/8 (17.2 overs) |
- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
India Capitals 198/5 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 120 (19.2 overs) |
- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Round 2
Gujarat Giants 152/7 (20 overs) |
v |
India Capitals 153/4 (18.5 overs) |
- India Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
Manipal Tigers 175/8 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 172/9 (20 overs) |
- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to field.
Bhilwara Kings 222/4 (20 overs) |
v |
Gujarat Giants 165 (19.4 overs) |
- Gujarat Giants won the toss and elected to field.
Manipal Tigers 161/5 (20 overs) |
v |
India Capitals 162/3 (17.2 overs) |
- India Capitals won the toss and elected to field.
- India Capitals qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match.[42]
Gujarat Giants 186/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 187/5 (19.4 overs) |
- Bhilwara Kings win toss and elected to field.
- Bhilwara Kings qualified for the playoffs as a result of this match.[43]
India Capitals 183/2 (20 overs) |
v |
Manipal Tigers 186/7 (20 overs) |
- 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.
Bracket
| 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) | |||||||||||
Bhilwara Kings 226/5 (20 overs) |
v |
India Capitals 231/6 (19.3 overs) |
- Bhilwara Kings won the toss and elected to bat.
Gujarat Giants 194/9 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 195/4 (18.3 overs) |
- Gujarat Giants won the toss and chose to bat.
Final
India Capitals 211/7 (20 overs) |
v |
Bhilwara Kings 107 (18.2 overs) |
- 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.[44] 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.[45]
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.[46] 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.[47]
Broadcasters
- Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar and FanCode are the official broadcasters of this league in India.
References
- "Legends League Cricket 2022: Players, teams, full schedule, live streaming, telecast and more". Times Now. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- "Legends League Cricket 2022: Squads, Schedule, Live Streaming, and Broadcasting details". Crictracker. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- "Howzat Legends League Cricket". Howzat. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- "Ravi Shastri gets appointed as Commissioner of Legends League Cricket". Crictracker. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
- "LLC to be hosted by Oman Cricket in January 2022". Times of India, Times of Oman.
- "Ravi Shastri's next assignment is LLC". Times of India, The Times of India.
- "LLC recreates Shaz & Waz on the sidelines". Khaleej Times.
- "Legendary Amitabh Bachchan roped in as the BRAND Ambassador of LLC". The Economic Times.
- "Andre Leipus roped in as Director Sports Science for LLC". ANI News.
- "Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar set to play for Asia Lions in Legends League Cricket 2023". India Today. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- "Qatar Cricket to Host next season of Legends League Cricket Masters in Doha". Legends League Cricket. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- "Ganguly, Morgan, Muralidaran, Misbah, Johnson among 53 players in Legends League Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- Release, Press (7 July 2022). "Muttiah Muralitharan, Asghar Afghan and other stars confirm participation in LLC Season 2". CricTracker. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- "Ganguly and Morgan to captain star-studded teams in Legends League curtain-raiser". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "India Maharajas Vs World Giants Independence Day Match - Date, Time Venue And Where To Watch". Cricket Country. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- Mahotsav, Amrit. "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India". Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- Chhabria, Vinay. "Legends League Cricket 2022: Full schedule, squads, venues and match timings in IST". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Star Sports India announced as the Official Broadcast Partner for Legends League Cricket". Legends League Cricket. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- Sportstar, Team (10 September 2022). "Sehwag, Kallis to lead Indian Maharajas, World Giants for Legends League Cricket benefit match". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- "World Giants squad for Special Match". Legends League Cricket. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- "India Maharajas Squad for Special Match". Legends League Cricket. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- "Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan named captains in Legends League". ESPN Cricinfo. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- "Sourav Ganguly pulls out of Legends League Cricket". Crictracker. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- Chhabria, Vinay. "Legends League Cricket 2022: Full schedule, squads, venues and match timings in IST". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Legends League Cricket Final To Be Played At Sawai Mansingh Stadium In Jaipur". NDTV Sports. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- "LNJ Bhilwara Group acquires Legends League Cricket franchise". LNJ Bhilwara Group. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "LNJ Bhilwara Kings appoints Lalchand Rajput as Head Coach". Crictracker. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Venkatesh Prasad appointed head coach of Gujarat Giants". Gujarat Giants. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Pravin Amre appointed head coach of India Capitals". India Capitals. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Rajput and Buchanan will also coach LNJ Bhilwara Kings and Manipal Tigers respectively in the league". Crictracker. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- "Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir to lead teams in Legends League". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- Bureau, ABP News (2 September 2022). "Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh & Irfan Pathan Named As Captains In LLC". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Chris Gayle Joins Gujarat Giants". Legends League Cricket Twitter. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- "Manipal Tigers add Daren Sammy and Imran Tahir to squad for Legends League Cricket". India Today. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- "Solomon Mire makes his entry in #IndiaCapitals". India Capitals. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Ashley Nurse joined India Capitals". India Capitals. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "Due to unforeseen reasons, Mashrafe Mortaza will miss out on playing for #IndiaCapitals in #LLCT20". India Capitals. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- "All you need to know about star-studded Legends League Cricket season 2". Fancode. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- "LLC T20 Match Schedule". Legends League Cricket Twitter. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- "The schedule for #LLCT20 is here". Legends League Cricket. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- "Legends League Cricket Teams & Results". Cric Coal. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- "LLC 2022, Match 10 Review: Hamilton Masakadza helps India Capitals outmuscle Manipal Tigers". Crictracker. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
- "Yusuf Pathan helps Bhilwara Kings topple Gujarat Giants in close finish". Crictracker. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- "Legends League Cricket 2023: Asia Lions, World Giants And India Maharajas Announce Captains". Zee News. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- "DISNEY STAR ACQUIRES TV BROADCAST RIGHTS FOR LLC MASTERS". llct20.com.
- "Legends League Cricket reach 703 Million fans globally". India.com. 7 February 2022.
- "Legends League Cricket rating and viewership scores over many other international T20 Leagues in the world". Crictracker. 7 February 2022.