Held at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the game is part of the Legends League Cricket (LLC), a private tournament organized by Absolute Legends Sports. It is a curtain raiser for the second edition of the league, which also celebrates the 75th year of India’s independence.
“It is a proud moment for us as we celebrate our 75th year of independence,” LLC Commissioner Ravi Shastri said in a statement. “As a proud Indian, I am extremely satisfied to share that we have decided to dedicate this year’s League to the 75th year of Independence Celebrations.”
Apart from Sourav Ganguly, the match will feature former India players like Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan and Parthiv Patel – all of whom played under Ganguly’s captaincy.
Maharaja’s squad also includes former India pacer S Sreesanth, who retired from domestic cricket earlier this year after a brief return to top-flight cricket following the lifting of his seven-year ban related to the IPL spot-fixing case.
Apart from Morgan, who won the World Cup with England in 2019, the Giants also have former South African stars Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Dale Steyn and Herschelle Gibbs. Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan are the Sri Lankan representatives, while Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson are the two Aussies in the 17-man squad.
The first season of the league was held in Oman in January this year, in which three teams – Maharaja, Giants and Asia Lions participated. The Giants won the tournament after a high-scoring final against the Lions. The second season will have four teams, and a total of 15 matches.
India Maharaja : Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), Stuart Binny, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha (wk), Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha , Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma, Ritinder Singh Sodhi
World Giants: Eoin Morgan (c), Lendl Simmons, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Sanath Jayasuriya, Matt Prior (wk), Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson , Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin (wk)