The second season of the American Premier League will be recreating the India-Pakistan rivalry at the Moosa Cricket Stadium in Texas with Premium Indians and Premium Paks set to clash against each other on December 24.
The Premium Indians team will be represented by fast bowler S. Sreesanth and all-rounder Stuart Binny while Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir, and Fawad Alam will play for Premium Paks.
The 'Super Match' will be a delight for fans not just in the USA but across the world as Sreesanth looks to relive the memory of the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup final in South Africa when he took Sohail Tanvir's wicket in the 17th over and also took the famous final catch of Misbah ul-Haq to win the match for India.
Players' Corner
"It still feels like yesterday when I was running into bowl against Pakistan in Jo-burg and took the winning catch. Playing against Pakistan and winning has been a real high for me. I am really looking forward to playing the Super Match against Premium Paks and hopefully, I will help Premium Indians come on top this time as well," said Sreesanth.
Tanvir, a left-hander from Pakistan who was the top wicket-taker in the first edition of the Indian Premier League, said, "Playing against India is always special for me as I made my T20 as well as Test debut against them in 2007. You are overwhelmed with emotions and nervousness while playing against them and I am really excited that I have got another opportunity to represent Pakistan in a rivalry match."
Tournament Format
Seven teams will be participating in the 13-day long tournament from 19th to 31st December. Teams that will compete for the trophy are Premium Afghans, Premium Americans, Premium Aussies, Premium Canadians, Premium Indians, Premium Paks, and Premium Windies.
Each team will have a minimum of one and maximum of two players who have represented their country while every 15-member team squad will have nine local (American) players, according to ICC guidelines.
A maximum of six international players will be allowed in the playing XI. APL Founder and CEO Jay Mir said, "The idea is to give fans a unique experience every time they tune into the APL, and having a match between Premium Indians and Premium Paks is one of them. Having the stalwarts from both the countries will surely see a high-intensity cricketing action."
(With PTI inputs)
