MUSCAT: Swashbuckling former Indian opener Virender Sehwag will miss the initial matches of the Legends League Cricket for "personal reasons" and Mohammed Kaif will lead "Indian Maharajas" in the first edition of the T20 tournament, commencing on Thursday.
Indian Maharajas will take on Misbah-ul-Haq led Asian Lions in the three-team tournament which will conclude on January 29.
The third team of the meet is World Giants which will be skippered by former West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
"Sehwag has some personal issues so could not come for the opening match. He may join later, I will lead the Indian side in the first two matches," Kaif said on the eve of the tournament.
"I have captained in a lot of matches including at the domestic level. I've also been a coach, mentor and do commentary now in my involvement with the game for many years. So it will be a lot of fun. Looking forward to it," he added.
Every team will play each other twice and the two top teams will clash in the summit clash on January 29.
Kaif will have Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Subramanian Badrinath, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha, Manpreet Gony, Hemang Badani, Venugopal Rao, Munaf Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Nayan Mongia, and Amit Bhandari as his teammates.
Asked whether they would have the same intensity when they face the Pakistani players, he said: "Nobody wants to lose, being a sportsperson everyone wants to give their best potential."
'Shoaib can still clock 140kph'
Misbah will have a star-studded Asian Lions Team with the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan among others.
"It all will depend on our fitness on the field and how they respond to the situation. Shoaib can still bowl at 140kph. He has arrived today and we will see how it goes."
On taking on their arch-rivals India on the opening day's fixture, Misbah said: "Whenever we play against India, everyone gives their best on the field. We will be very competitive on the field and would like to entertain people."
