The second edition of the American Premier League is set to begin in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. The Moosa Cricket Stadium will be the venue for all the matches in the league, which will recreate the India-Pakistan rivalry in the form of a face-off between Premium Indians and Premium Paks, dubbed as the "Super Match". (Cricket News)
The blockbuster match will be played 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 match between Premium Indians and Premium Paks will be a nostalgic one as Sreesanth will look 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.
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“It still feels like yesterday when I was running in to bowl against Pakistan in Johannesburg and took the winning catch. Playing against Pakistan and winning has been a real high for me. I am really looking forward to play the “Super Match” against Premium Paks and hopefully I will help Premium Indians come on top this time as well, said Sreesanth.
The American Premier League had been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council in May 2023 and the USA Cricket board has roped in 40 international cricketers across seven teams. The teams comprise Americans, Indians, Paks, Windies, Afgans, Aussies and Canadians.
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Captains
Explosive top-order batter Chris Gayle will lead the charge for Premium Windies. Sreesanth will captain the Premium Indians and Sohail Tanvir will lead Premium Paks. Former Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi will helm the Afghans and Australia all-rounder Ben Cutting will handle the captaincy for the Aussies. English middle-order batter Daniel Lawrence will spearhead the Americans
Cricket And Olympics
The league assumes significance as cricket is making a grand comeback into the Olympic fold after over 120 years, as it has been included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The tournament, as also the ICC T20 World Cup in June 2024, could be big steps in cultivating cricket interest among the American masses, in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics.
Schedule
The league will begin on December 19, 2023 with a game between the Americans and the Windies at 8pm IST. The group-stage will be played out in a roun-robin format with each team playing the other six once. After the inaugural game on December 19, every day will feature a double-header, with matches at 8 and 11:30pm IST.
The Premium Indians vs Premium Paks encounter will be the 10th match of the league and will be played on Sunday, December 24 at 8pm. The group stage will end on December 29, after which the top four teams will proceed to the semi-finals - which will be played on December 30. The final will be held on December 31 at 9pm IST.
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TV Telecast, Live Streaming In India
All the matches will be telecast live on Sports 18 TV channels, and live-streamed on the FanCode as well as Jio Cinema apps and websites in India.
