Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar will return to the cricket field after four years as he is going to represent Asia Lions in the Legends Cricket League (LCL)- a professional cricket league for the retired cricketers.
The professional league will be played in Oman next month. Akhtar will be joined by the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and many others.
The tournament will be played at the Al Amerat Cricket Stadium in Oman where three teams will be participating.
46-year-old Akhtar will represent Asia Lions in the tournament while two other teams include India and the Rest of the World.
In his last competitive match, Akhtar had played for Royals against Palace Diamonds in the St. Moritz Ice Cricket tournament on February 9, 2018.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is the commissioner of the league which is expected to serve as a treat for the Oman fans.
"This is top quality exciting cricket in offer. The Lions of Asia from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Afghanistan coming together in one team will definitely give the other two teams a run for their money.
"I tell you they are absolute champions and Afridi, Murali, Chaminda, Shoaib Malik all playing in one team, this will be a blast,” 59-year-old Shastri said.
Comeback for the 52-year old
Jayasuriya, member of the 1996 World Cup winning squad of Sri Lanka is also going to make a comeback to the field after playing in the Road Safety World Series. It will be interesting to see how the 52-year-old performs at this age.
He remains a significant member of the cricketing fraternity to score more than 13,000 runs and pick up more than 300 wickets in ODI cricket. Jayasuriya’s last appearance in competitive cricket was for Sri Lanka Legends against India Legends in the Road Safety World Series played on March 21, in Raipur.
Jayasuriya's former teammate Muralitharan is also going to join him. The 49-year old former spinner still holds the world record for most wickets in Test cricket with 800 wickets under his belt.
Romesh Kaluwitharana, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Azhar Mahmood, Upul Tharanga, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Yousuf, Umar Gul, Younis Khan and Asghar Afghan complete the rest of the squad for Asia Lions.
The squad will have multiple World Cup winners (ODI and T20I included) and will surely provide big viewership as Oman expect to welcome cricketing culture into the nation. Oman also hosted the qualifiers of the T20 World Cup last year.
