Former Zimbabwe cricket team captain Hamilton Masakadza has been included in the World Giants squad for a special charity match between Sourav Ganguly-led India Maharajas and World Giants at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The special match which is meant to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence will be played on September 16. It will get the Legends League Cricket tournament off the mark.
“This is a proud moment for us that we are celebrating the 75th year of our Independence. As a proud Indian, it gives me immense satisfaction to share that we have decided to dedicate this year’s league to the 75th year of Independence,” former India head coach and commissioner of Legends League Cricket (LLC), Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying on Friday.
Masakadza, who is Zimbabwe’s fourth-highest run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, retired from international cricket in October 2019 after representing the country in 38 Tests, 209 ODIs and 66 T20Is.
He currently holds the role of Zimbabwe Cricket’s director of cricket.
While India Maharajas would be led by Sourav Ganguly, the World Giants which Masakadza is a part of will be captained by former England skipper Eoin Morgan.
#3️⃣9️⃣NotOut | Happy birthday to former 🇿🇼 international and our current director of cricket Hamilton Masakadza.
We wish you many more! 🎂 🥳 #HappyBirthdayHami pic.twitter.com/gmhzfupx5k
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) August 9, 2022
The organisers of the Legends League Cricket on Saturday confirmed that Herschelle Gibbs and Sanath Jayasuriya have been replaced by Shane Watson and Daniel Vettori in the World Giants squad for the match against India Maharajas on September 16 at the Eden Gardens.
“Legends League Cricket has decided to replace Herschelle Gibbs and Sanath Jayasuriya in the World Giant squad for the special match,” read an official statement.
“Players from across 10 foreign countries will be participating in this match. The league will commence the next day, September 17, 2022, wherein 4 teams in franchise format will be competing in the Legends League Cricket Franchise format. Overall 15 matches will be played in this season.,” stated an official release.
Ravi Shastri, Commissioner, Legends League Cricket said, “This is a proud moment for us that we are celebrating the 75th year of our independence. As a proud Indian, it gives me immense satisfaction to share that we have decided to dedicate this year’s league to the 75th year of Independence celebration.”
Squads:
India Maharajas: Sourav Ganguly (c), Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, Yusuf Pathan, S Badrinath, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Stuart Binny, S Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Naman Ojha, Ashoke Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajay Jadeja, RP Singh, Joginder Sharma
World Giants: Eoin Morgan (c), Lendl Simmons, Shane Watson, Jacques Kallis, Daniel Vettori, Matt Prior, Nathan McCullum, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, Hamilton Masakadza, Mashrafe Mortaza, Asghar Afghan, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Kevin O’Brien, Denesh Ramdin.