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Hyderabad Drafts Suresh Raina For Upcoming Season Of Legends League Cricket

image-lnwkccwySuresh Raina (Source: X)

Once a star performer for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Suresh Raina will return to the field next month as Urbanrisers Hyderabad has drafted him in for the upcoming season of the Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2023. The news comes as positive for Raina's fans as he bid adieu to professional cricket last year and was only active in the leagues for retired players.

The league's new season will commence on 18th November and run until 9th December. The draft of the league that will take place at Qutub Minar will see more than 200 players from over 12 countries featuring as some of the biggest names from previous eras get a chance to be picked among the six franchises.

Previously, the league only had four teams, namely Manipal Tigers, Bhilwara Kings, India Capitals and Gujarat Giants, but the upcoming edition will see the addition of two new sides by the name of Urbanrisers Hyderabad alongside Southern Super Stars.

The existing franchises were asked to retain three players each, and on the other hand, the newcomers were given the option to pick three cricketers from the draft pool. The Hyderabad side bagged Suresh Raina with openers Martin Guptill and Dwayne Smith, while Super Stars grabbed the services of T20 World Cup-winning captain Aaron Finch, Abdur Razzak and Upul Tharanga.

Defending champions Capitals have retained their skipper, Gautam Gambhir, with bowlers Pravin Tambe and Ashley Nurse, whereas the Kings have got Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and Shane Watson. Adding to the charm, the Tigers have gone ahead with Harbhajan Singh, Corey Anderson and Mohammed Kaif. And finally, the Giants have opted for the services of Chris Gayle, Parthiv Patel and Kevin O'Brien.

Apart from all of them mentioned, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Nuwan Kulasekara, Morne Morkel, Xavier Doherty, Dirk Nannes, Robin Uthappa, Hashim Amla, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Lendl Simmons, Brett Lee, Ross Taylor, S. Sreesanth, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Vettori, Farveez Maharoof, William Porterfield and Liam Plunkett will other notable names present in the draft.

A total of 19 matches will be played across five centres in India, namely Ranchi, Dehradun, Jammu, Vizag and Surat to attract fans from various parts of the country.