American Premier League set to recreate India-Pakistan rivalry in Houston during second season

Bat and Ball (Photo Source: Twitter)

Houston, 2nd Dec: The 2nd edition of the American Premier League is all set to recreate the India-Pakistan rivalry at Moosa Cricket Stadium in Houston, Texas on 24th December 2023. The rivalry match between Premium Indians and Premium Paks will be named as “Super Match”.

The Premium Indians team will be represented by fast bowler S. Sreesanth and all-rounder Stuart Binny while Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir, and Fawad Alam will play for Premium Paks.

A “Super Match” between Premium Indians and Premium Paks will be a delight for the fans’ not just in the USA but across the world as S. Sreesanth will look to relive the memory of the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup final in South Africa when he took Sohail Tanvir’s wicket in the 17th over. “It still feels like yesterday when I was running into bowl against Pakistan in Jo-burg and took the winning catch. Playing against Pakistan and winning has been a real high for me. I am really looking forward to playing the “Super Match” against Premium Paks and hopefully, I will help Premium Indians come on top this time as well, said Sreesanth.

Tanvir, a left-hander from Pakistan who was the top-wicket taker in the first edition of the Indian Premier League said, “Playing against India is always special for me as I made my T20 as well as Test debut against them in 2007. You are overwhelmed with emotions and nervousness while playing against them and I am really excited that I’ve got another opportunity to represent Pakistan in a rivalry match.”

A total of seven teams will be participating in the 13-day long tournament that runs from 19th to 31st December. Teams that will compete for the coveted trophy are Premium Afghans, Premium Americans, Premium Aussies, Premium Canadians, Premium Indians, Premium Paks, and Premium Windies. Each team will have a minimum of one and maximum of two national players to represent their country while every 15-member team squad will have 9 local (American) players mandatory as per the ICC guidelines. A maximum of 6 international players will be allowed in the playing XI.

Jay Mir, Founder and CEO of APL said, “The idea is to give fans a unique experience every time they tune into the APL, and having a match between Premium Indians and Premium Paks is one of them. Having the stalwarts from both the countries will surely see a high-intensity cricketing action.”