Lara, Madan Lal, Sandhu join breakaway cricket league

MUMBAI: Former West Indies captain Brian Lara would lead one of the six city teams in the breakaway Indian Cricket league (ICL) to be organised this winter, organiser Zee TV announced on Monday.

Zee also said that former India Test player Madan Lal would coach the 'Delhi' team and Balwinder Singh Sandhu would be director of academies, while Pranab Roy and Rajesh Chauhan would act as talent scouts for its ICL, seen as a rival to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"We are extremely honoured to welcome Brian to the ICL family. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest ever batsmen that the world has seen, he brings his immense talent and experience to the ICL," Himanshu Mody, project head for the ICL, said in a statement here.

"I think the youngsters we are grooming for India's future will benefit immensely from playing alongside him in the ICL," Mody said.

ICL is designed on the lines of Australian media mogul Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket that shook the cricket world in the late 1970s.

Lara, the all-time top scorer with 11,953 runs in 131 Tests, said that he could not remain away from the game for long.

"It gives me great pleasure to join the ICL. You can't keep me too far from cricket and hence I return to the game in this exciting new avatar that the Essel Group has launched," the man who retired from international cricket in April was quoted as saying in the statement.

"I look forward to playing with promising youngsters from India and elsewhere along with some of my illustrious international counterparts who I've shared many an exciting moment with on the field," said the left-hander who also holds the world record of the highest Test innings of 400 not out.

Zee also announced that Madan Lal would coach a 'Delhi' side, thus disclosing the name of one of the six teams that would compete in the league, most probably in October. The matches are expected to be of 20 overs per innings.

"I am extremely happy to become a part of the ICL. In the past, I have played under Kapil Dev in the team of 1983, which had passion and pride. In the role of a coach in the ICL, I propose to inculcate character in the team and create a brand of cricket that possesses killer instinct," he said.

"Players will be conditioned to showcase power and speed on the field, as we can no longer afford to buckle under pressure and limp to defeats. International stars alongside young promise is a perfect recipe for the future of Indian cricket."

Kapil Dev had earlier joined ICL as chairman of its executive board with his former India team mates Kiran More and Sandeep Patil. ICL has also signed former England captain Tony Greig and Dean Jones of Australia.

Sandhu, who was also part of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, said he endorsed the undisclosed "structure and the system of the ICL".

"In the past, I have been the head coach at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) and have been the coach for the (Indian) under-19 team, both of which will stand me in good stead in performing my duties," he said.

The job profile of Roy and Chauhan as ICL talent scouts will include "identification, short-listing and channelling of promising talent in their respective zones".

Roy is from the east zone while Chauhan is from the central zone.