MCL: a league of extraordinary players

After the success of the all stars t20 league, another tournament gripping the imagination of the fans is the all new MCL or the masters champions league which has been nothing short of a dream come true for the fans as they have craved to see their childhood heroes perform together at such a level.

But first lets take a look at what mcl is about. Well, MCL is a t20 tournament organized by the Arab Emirates board and can be organized for 10 years under it. It comprises of six teams with 15 players in each squad thus comprising of 90 players in the first season. The players must all have been former international cricketers.

The various teams taking part are namely Libra Legends, Gemini Arabians, Sagittarius Strikers, Virgo Super Kings, Capricorn Commanders and Leo Lions. The skippers of these teams are Jacques Kallis, Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchirist, Graeme Smith, Paul Collingwood and Brian Lara respectively. These teams include players of the likes of Jayawardene, Lara, Collingwood and Shane Bond.

The tournament has already seen some mind boggling performances by the greats which brings home the fact that age is just a number for legends. Some instances are as follows:

1. Kumar Sangakarra’s swashbuckling 86 runs off 43 balls in the opening game of mcl against the Libra Legends. The innings included a whopping 6 fours and 7 sixes. He single handedly took his team to victory in that game.
2. Shane Bond showed off some vintage stuff when he took a hat trick against Virgo Super Kings reminiscent of the terror of his bowling during his prime days. The wickets included the likes of Greame Smith, Neil Mckenzie, and Owais Shah. He finished with figures of 3-21 in 4 overs in that game and played a crucial role in his side’s victory.
3.  Virender Sehwag has also been in red hot form as he has not           shied away from being his usual self. His knock of 134 off 63 might have given him a shot at the t20 WC. His knock included a massive 10 fours and 11 sixes.
4. A similar knock was played by the legend Mahela Jayawardene where he scored 124 runs in 63 balls at a strike rate of 206.66 .
5. Mutthaih Murlitharan has lately found his magic touch as he now leads the pack when it comes to most number of wicket takers in the tournament with 12 wickets in 4 games at an average of just 9.41.