Cricket All Stars League: Full coverage of the player draft

Cricket All Stars League: Full coverage of the player draft: The most awaited draft for the Cricket All Stars league has been completed on Thursday in New York which features retired legendary players who would be playing 3 Twenty20 matches at Citi Field.

The random draw for a total of 25 players was made by Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne for their respective teams which was hosted by Alan Wilkins.

The draw was made by putting papers with 2 player names in a trophy and either of the team captains picking it out one after the other in rounds.

Here is the full timeline of the draw:

Round 1: Destructive Openers.

Mathew Hayden and Virender Sehwag names were written and Coin Toss was made for picking out one, from which Shane Warne picked up Hayden’s name after Sachin called wrongly on toss. However, Sachin was happy by getting Sehwag in his squad.

Round 2: Classical stroke makers.

2nd round draw was made for Michael Vaughan and VVS Laxman in which Sachin Tendulkar picked out VVS Laxman’s name while Michael Vaughan went to Shane Warne.

Round 3: Batting Legends.

Shane Warne got the turn to pick one of the 2 names from the trophy which had the names of legendary batsmen, Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara written over it. Warne eventually picked Ponting’s name and Brian Lara went into Sachin’s side.

When Alan Wilkins asked whether he was happy on getting Brian Lara, Sachin replied saying: “I think he can bat a bit.”

Round 4: Big hitters

4th round was for Sourav Ganguly and Jonty Rhodes with Sachin putting his hand in the trophy. He eventually picked up his Indian counter partner’s name.

Round 5: Innings’ builders

Shane Warne picked up Jacques Kallis’ name from the trophy which had name of Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene.

Round 6: All-rounders

For the 6th round between Andrew Symonds and Carl Hooper, Sachin picked up the veteran West Indies player Hooper with Symonds going into Australia led side.

Round 7: Wicket Keepers

Moin Khan and Kumar Sangakkara are the only wicket keepers in this league and Warne picked out Sangakkara’s name as the Pakistani wicket keeper Moin Khan will be featuring in the side led by the Indian.

Also Read – Blast from the past: 7 cricketers who can make an impact in All stars T20 series

Round 8: Spinners

8th round was spinners round in which Sachin had to pick among Muttiah Muralitharan and Saqlain Mushtaq. And Sachin picked up Murali’s name which means Warne will be sharing the ball with Mushtaq.

Round 9: Spin all-rounders

9th round went between Daniel Vettori and Graeme Swann, who can chip with the bat along with bowling full quota overs. Warne got a chance to pick and Vettori was the name which got to his hand.

Round 10: West Indian Pacers

Unlike the previous rounds, the 10th round was supposed to be a name which is to be picked among the pacers from the same country. The trophy contained Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose names among which Sachin picked Ambrose.

During the presentation of Jersey to Ambrose, Sachin made up some funny moments by comparing both their heights.

Round 11: Pace bowlers Part-2

The 2nd round for the pace bowlers was between Wasim Akram and Shaun Pollock among whom Shane Warne picked up Akram’s name from the trophy.

Round 12: Pace bowlers Part-3

Glenn McGrath and Allan Donald were the players who took part in the 3rd round for the pace bowlers. Sachin Tendulkar picking McGrath’s name name from the trophy.

Round 13: Pace bowling all-rounders

The final round of selection went between Lance Klusener and Ajit Agarkar, who could bowl their full quota and can chip in with the bat. It was Warne’s turn, who ended up picking Agarkar’s name.

Round 14: Extra player

After all rounds of selection, Shoiab Akthar remained to be an extra player and hence both the captains decided to pick him on basis of toss coin. Shane Warne called wrongly on toss as Akthar got drafted into Sachin’s squad.

Substitution:

Indian wicket keeper Sameer Dighe will be part of this Cricket All Stars League as the substitute wicket keeper.

Final Squads:

Sachin’s Blasters:

Sachin Tendulkar (C), Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, Carl Hooper, Mahela Jayawardene, Moin Khan (WK), Muttaih Muralidharan, Graeme Swann, Curtly Ambrose, Shaun Pollock, Glenn McGrath, Lance Klusener, Shoiab Akthar.

Warne’s Warriors:

Shane Warne (C), Mathew Hayden, Michael Vaughan, Ricky Ponting, Jonty Rhodes, Andrew Symonds, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Saqlain Mushtaq, Daniel Vettori, Courtney Walsh, Wasim Akram, Allan Donald, Ajit Agarkar.

First of the 3 games which are part of Cricket All Stars league will be played on Saturday i.e. 7th November at Citifield in New York City.