Asia Lions

Cricket is a fascinating game and what makes cricket even more fascinating is the players when the exclusively fascinating game of cricket is played by veteran formers it's like a cherry on top of the cake. Talking about cricket and veteran players at the same time, the league that comes to mind is the Legends League Cricket. The Legends League Cricket is also known as the Skyexch.net Legends League Cricket Masters as it was sponsored by Skyexch.net. It features veteran players and gives them another chance to come back to competitive cricket once again to experience the same thrill and rivalry. The tournament is played in a double round-robin, eliminators and final format. The league features three teams and The Asia Lions (AL) is one of them. Apart from the two other teams in the Legends League Cricket were the Indian Maharajas (IM) and the World Giants (WG).

It is a Twenty20 league which showcases the abundance of talent and experience on the same page with former international and local players from India and also across the country's borders. The three teams are very intellectually thought out as the Indian Maharajas contain only Indian veteran players, Asia Lions consists of players from Asian countries other than India and last but not least the World Giants comprises cricketing giants from all other cricket-playing nations. The league is administered by the Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd.The first season of the tournament was announced and played in 2022 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence deemed to be the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Prime Minister of India. The first season of the league was played from 20 January to 29 January 2022, where the World Giants emerged victorious. The league featured veteran players from India as well as from other cricket-playing nations across the country's borders. Big names and many more participated in the game. Saurav Ganguly later withdrew from the tournament due to personal reasons.

The Asia Lions squad for the 2023 season of the Legends League Cricket comprised Shahid Afridi as the captain of the team, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Razzak, Asghar Afghan, Dhiman Ghosh, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Paras Khadka, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Nawroz Mangal, Thisara Perera, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Upul Tharanga and last but not the least Isuru Udana. With this veteran squad in mind, the Asia Lions were ready to face the matches coming their way in the season. Their first season as a team was the 2022 season. Though they could not win the championship trophy they set the bar high as they finished the season as runners-up after losing the final match against the World Giants. The second season, the 2023 season was worth remembering for the team as they won the championship title for the first time in the history of the Asia Lions.

Asia Lions Team Owner

Legends League Cricket is owned by Absolute Legends Sports Pvt. Ltd. which is a Delhi-based company. The founder and Chairman of the company is Vivek Khushalani. The teams are regional and thus do not have any specific owner. The entire series is owned fully by Absolute Legends company.

Asia Lions Brand Value

The tournament just completed 2 years and the team is a very new one for the audience now. The team's brand value could not be traced on the web but it is only predicted to rise in the next few years relying on the terrific performances of the team members.

Performance of the Asia Lions over the Years

The following table shows a summary of the performance of the Asia Lions in the Legends League Cricket Masters along the seasons of the league they played as of now. The Asia Lions is arguably a strong team which has shown what they are capable of in the first two seasons in which they have clinched the runners-up and the champion title respectively.

Year	Legends League Cricket Masters Performance
2022	Runners-up
2023	Champions
2024	Yet to be determined

2022 Legends League Cricket Masters Season

The first season of the LLCM was played in the year 2022 from 20 January to 29 January. The team emerged quite successful as they were stopped a step away from the championship trophy and they finished as the runners-up team. Thus the Asia Lions got a good start to the league and managed to capture a good number of audience in the first season itself owing to their performances which matched the expectations of the fans.

Their first-ever match as a team was against the Indian Maharajas. Though they ended up being defeated in this match by 6 wickets, the team presented some incredible displays of team spirit throughout the game. The best performances with the bat came from Upul Tharanga and Misbah-ul-Haq who scored 66 and 44 runs off 46 and 30 balls respectively. Batting first they gave the Indian Maharajas a target of 176 runs from 20 overs. This looked like a healthy total until the bowlers were continuously attacked by the opponents' batting line-up. The only two wicket-takers for the match were Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul with 1 wicket each at the cost of 21 and 30 runs respectively.

In their second match, the Asia Lions faced the World Giants. This was an incredibly high-scoring encounter as the Giants put up a huge total of 205 runs from their 20 overs thus setting a 206 runs target for the Lions to chase. The best contributions with the ball came from Nuwan Kulasekara and Mohammad Hafeez who took 2 wickets each giving away 17 and 32 runs respectively. Coming out to bat in the difficult chase they showed exactly why they are the best in the business. The Lions managed to chase down the big target in 19.1 overs. The two half-centuries from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mohammad Hafeez scoring 52 and 63 runs brought them closer to the target. This gave the team the recognition they deserve in the league.

Their next match was against the Indian Maharajas. The Lions managed a good total of 193 runs batting first owing to the performances of Upul Tharanga and Asghar Afghan of 72 and 69 runs, thus giving the Maharajas a target of 194 runs. Nuwan Kulasekara, Mohammad Rafique and Asghar Afghan were the best contributors with the ball picking up 2 wickets each. In the end, the Asia Lions won the match by a respectable margin of 36 runs.

Their fourth and last league match was against the World Giants. In this match, they could not perform up to the expectations of the fans. Batting first they put up a total of 149 runs from 20 overs. Asghar Afghan Was the best performer with 41 runs from 26 balls. Thus setting a target of 150 runs for the Giants which was a difficult score to defend. The only two wicket-takers for the Asia Lions were Nuwan Kulasekara and Muthiah Muralidaran with 1 and 2 wickets giving 15 and 22 runs respectively. Unfortunately, they were defeated in the match with 7 overs remaining. With this, they qualify for the finals due to their second position on the points table.

The next match was the final match of the season where the Asia Lions were ready to face the World Giants. This was like a repetition of the previous match and so were the results. The Asia Lions could not bring out the match in their favour in an extremely high-scoring match. Batting first the World Giants put up a total of 256 runs thus setting a massive target of 257 runs from 120 runs. The Asia Lions seemed to be on the back foot from the beginning of the match. But they put up a good fight and managed to get to a total of 231 runs and fell short of the target by 25 runs. Thus they had to accept the runners-up title for the season.

It can be said that they ended the opening season on a high note and increased the expectations of the fans. They will go into the next season high on confidence and look to convert their runners-up title to champions.

2023 Legends League Cricket Masters Season

The latest season of the Legends League Cricket Masters concluded recently on 20 March 2023 with Asia Lions emerging as the champions. Thus they managed to convert the runners-up title into champions this season. It is no exaggeration to say that the 2023 season was the best so far for the Asia Lions as a team.

The first match of the Asia Lions this season was played on March 10 against the Indian Maharajas. Batting first they managed to put up a score of 165 runs on the scoreboard relying on the contributions of Upul Tharanga and Misbah-ul-Haq of 40 and 79 runs off 39 and 50 balls respectively. Thus they gave the Maharajas a target of 166 runs from their quota of 20 overs. Coming out to defend the total the bowlers did a great job in converting the average looking total to a winning one. Sohail Tanvir showcased an incredible 3 wickets from 4 overs giving 28 runs. They won the match by a small margin of 9 runs.

Their second match, also a win against the World Giants, was reduced to a 10-over match. Coming out to bat first they gave the Giants a target of 100 runs from 60 balls. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Misbah-ul-Haq were the highest contributors with 32 and 44 runs of 24 and 19 balls respectively. In this case, the Giants managed a score of 64 runs owing to the beautiful bowling display from all the bowlers of the team. Shahid Afridi and Abdur Razzak picked up 2 wickets each in the match.

In the third match, they were all set to face the Indian Maharajas. But unfortunately, this match ended in a defeat for the Asia Lions. Batting first they put up a total of 157 runs on the scoreboard, which gave the Maharajas a target of 158 runs from 20 overs. Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan were the highest contributors with 69 and 32 runs off 48 runs respectively. Even with a respectable total on the scoreboard, the bowlers failed to perform their part and none could pick up a wicket thus resulting in an easy win for the Maharajas in just 12.3 overs.

In their next match, their opponent changed but they failed to change the results. In this match, they faced the World Giants. Given a target of 151 to chase, they managed only 130 runs losing all 10 of their wickets. Neither the batters nor the bowlers could perform up to the mark in this match resulting in a shocking defeat for one of the best teams in the league.

The Asia Lions made a strong comeback in the eliminator after losing two back-to-back matches. In the last group stage match, they faced the India Maharajas and won by a big margin of 85 runs. In this match they put up a total of 191 runs from 20 overs, batting first. Upul Tharanga scored an incredible 50 runs from 31 balls and Mohammad Hafeez with 38 runs was the best performer with the bat. The bowlers did an amazing job in restricting the Indian Maharajas to 106 runs. Almost all the bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals resulting in the deserving win.

Their last match was the much-awaited final match which they were about to play against the World Giants. This was seen by many critics as a repetition of the 2022 season finals. This was an opportunity for the Lions to turn the tables in their favour. In this match, the Lions were given a target of 148 runs, which they reached in just 16.1 overs with 23 balls and 7 wickets in hand. Abdur Razzak was declared the Man of the Match in the finals for his performance with the ball. He took two important wickets from 4 overs giving 14 runs. This was a very deserving win for the Asia Lions. They displayed an incredible game of cricket all through the season and look to do the same in the upcoming seasons as well.

2024 Legends League Cricket Masters Season

The 2024 season of the Legends League Cricket Masters is yet to be played and the results are yet to be determined. The Asia Lions will go into the second season of the tournament with a huge boost in confidence. The defending champions will enter the next season definitely as the fan favourites. Their supporters will continue supporting their idols and perhaps also wish that their favourite players will bring the championship trophy home once again. The players will also try to give their 100 per cent as they did in the first two seasons. The 2023 winners were an incredible team and gave an all-around performance in the entire season, it is no exaggeration to say that their all-around performance left a lot of people in awe. It is for sure that the third season will be packed with surprises and amazement for the Asia Lions supporters.

Stats of Asia Lions Players

Asia Lions is a unique team consisting of players of varied capabilities from all cricket-playing nations across the continent of Asia excluding India. The team is packed with unbelievable talent and years of experience on the cricket pitch. They were indeed the deserving candidate for the Legends League Cricket trophy. The team showcased some incredible displays of batting and bowling throughout the season. The following subheadings highlight the list of top five run scorers and top five wicket-takers for the Asia Lions in the LLC.

Top run scorers for Asia Lions

The following table is a list of the top five run scorers for the Asia Lions in the Legends League Cricket in both the seasons of the league- 2022 and 2023. The list shows the number of matches played, runs scored, average per match and their strike rates.

Upul Tharanga takes the number one spot on the leaderboard with 221 runs from 6 matches he was a part of with an average of 36.83 per match and a whopping strike rate of 137.26. He registered his best performance of 69 runs. He has scored 3 fifties and 0 centuries in the league.

Name of the Player	Matches Played	Runs Scored	Average	Strike Rate
Upul Tharanga	6	221	36.83	137.26
Tilakaratne Dilshan	6	191	38.20	124.83
Misbah ul Haq	6	131	43.66	154.11
Mohammad Hafeez	5	62	20.66	100.00
NLTC Perera	6	54	18.00	142.10

Top wicket-takers for Asia Lions

The following table is a list of the top five wicket-takers for the Asia Lions combining both the seasons that have been played till now of the Legends League Cricket.

Sohail Tanvir takes the top spot on the leaderboard of the top five wicket-takers for the team. He is also the top wicket-taker in the entire tournament. Sohail took 7 wickets from 6 matches he played with a bowling average of 20.71 per match and an economy of 7.63. He recorded his best performance with 3 wickets giving 27 runs.

Name of the Player	Matches Played	Wickets Taken	Average	Economy
Sohail Tanvir	6	7	20.71	7.63
Abdur Razzak	6	6	14.16	5.66
Shahid Afridi	5	3	37.65	7.53
Tilakaratane M Dilshan	6	2	25.50	10.20
NLTC Perera	6	2	35.00	7.63

The Legends League Cricket Masters is still a new tournament and is yet to achieve higher feats in the recent future. Though the league is packed with the experience and talent of the veterans of the game of cricket, many people are still unaware of the tournament. But nevertheless, it is expected to receive much more limelight in the next seasons owing to the performances of not only the Asia Lions but also the other two teams.