Former India seamer, Sudeep Tyagi, has distanced himself from the Asian Legends League, while PCB have promised disciplinary action on the former Pakistan players who played the unsanctioned competition.
The league was scheduled to be played between July 30 and August 10, with many high-profile former international players set to feature before reports emerged that it had been discontinued after just seven matches. Sri Lanka Lions were crowned champions even though they had played just two matches.
Interestingly, the league’s Instagram handle posted on August 5 that there was a final scheduled between India Royals and Sri Lanka Lions, before posting the same first-innings scorecard from when the two sides first met in the competition on August 3, further putting the tournament’s credibility into question. There are no scorecards or results on the tournament's website, however, and only fixtures (and nothing about the final).
The league, which was being played in its entirety at the Lotus Sports Club Ground in Lusaka, Zambia, hit a snag when the country’s cricket governing body, the Zambia Cricket Union, announced that it was "not sanctioned, approved or endorsed by ZCU", on August 4.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released a statement soon after that “disciplinary measures will be taken on individuals found to have participated in the said unsanctioned event without obtaining the requisite approvals” from the board.
"A ban of two years from the issuance of any PCB No Objection Certificate (NOC) for participation in approved overseas cricket leagues or events. [And] Ineligibility for any cricketing, coaching, consultancy, mentoring and/or other assignments with the PCB and the PSL for a period of two years," the statement further read.
Following the development, Tyagi, whose name featured in the India Royals squad on the league’s website, put up an Instagram story claiming he was “not a part of this league” and that he was “not associated with it”.
Several high-profile names from India, including the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Yusuf Pathan, among others, were set to feature. But Rayudu reportedly withdrew from the tournament soon after reaching Lusaka due to poor facilities and other technical issues, while Dhawan, Raina and Pathan also didn’t play at all.
Dhawan was named the captain of the India Royals team, but eventually Rishi Dhawan and Naman Ojha led the side at various stages. Imran Nazir captained the Pakistan Panthers side, which was initially supposed to be led by Mohammad Hafeez, whereas Shakib Al Hasan led the Bangladesh Tigers side. Tillakaratne Dilshan captained the Asian Stars side with Raina missing, while Thisara Perera led the Sri Lanka Lions.
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