India Maharajas (Photo Source: Twitter)
India Maharajas will kick off the Legends League Cricket Masters 2023 (LLC) against Asia Lions at Doha’s West End Park International Cricket Stadium on Friday (March 10). India Maharajas won only once in the last edition of the tournament as they finished last in the three-team tournament under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif. The former opener Gautam Gambhir will be leading the Maharajas this season with iconic stars Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, and Robin Uthappa also in the team.
Misbah-ul-Haq led Aisa Lions to the final in the last edition of the tournament with two wins from four games. They lost against World Giants by 25 runs while chasing a mammoth 257-run target. The former Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi will be leading the team this year with last season’s top-scorer Upul Tharanga also in the team. Last season’s leading wicket-taker Nuwan Kulasekara is not part of the team this year but the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, and Isuru Udana add a quality strength to their bowling attack.
Match Details:
Venue: West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha
Date & Time: March 10, 08:00 PM IST
Telecast & Live Streaming: Star Sports Network & Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report
The pitch at Doha’s West End Park International Cricket Stadium favors big hitters in T20 cricket. The average first innings score at the venue is just 136 with chasing teams winning eight of 13 T20 matches so far.
Probable Playing XIs for INM vs ASL
India Maharajas
Gautam Gambhir (c), Murali Vijay, Robin Uthappa (wk), Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, Stuart Binny, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, S Sreesanth
Asia Lions
Upul Tharanga (wk), Asghar Afghan, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi (c), Thisara Perera, Abdul Razzaq, Isuru Udana, Abdur Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir
Probable best performers from INM vs ASL
Probable best batter: Upul Tharanga
The Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batter smashed 72 off 45 against India Maharajas in the last encounter between two teams last year. He was the second-highest run-getter last season, with 248 runs from five matches at an average of 49.60 and a strike rate of 151.21, including three half-centuries. In his latest T20 outings, Tharanga was the leading run-getter for Pokhara Avengers in Nepal T20 2022-23 tournament.
Probable best bowler: Irfan Pathan
The iconic Indian pace all-rounder scored 77 runs in just two innings at an amazing strike rate of 248.38, with the help of one fifty last year. But he further impressed with three wickets at an economy rate of 8.00 in two innings for the Maharajas. Irfan has taken 173 wickets from 175 T20 innings at an average of 26.40 at an economy rate of 7.60.