About the Road Safety World Series
Some of cricket’s biggest stars from the past few decades, led by legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, are set to go head-to-head in the name of promoting road safety in India.
The master batsmen will back in action in a tournament consisting of five teams in total – India Legends, West Indies Legends, Sri Lanka Legends, South Africa Legends and Australia Legends.
Consisting of 11 matches in total, the tournament has been organised to raise awareness of road safety in India – where one person dies every four minutes.
Matches will be held across Pune and Mumbai and the attraction of some of the game’s biggest players from the past 30 years means the tournament is eagerly awaited.
Scheduled to start on March 7 when Tendulkar and Lara lead their respective teams into battle at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, here is a closer look at the players set to be involved.
ROAD SAFETY WORLD SERIES TEAMS
The five teams taking part in the Road Safety World Series will bring together some of the most iconic players of recent decades.
Led by the five captains – Sachin Tendulkar (India), Brian Lara (West Indies), Jonty Rhodes (South Africa), Brett Lee (Australia) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) – some of the finest batsmen and bowlers have signed up to take part.
India
Captain: Sachin Tendulkar
The Little Master needs no introduction. Now 46, Tendulkar created history by scoring 100 international centuries – 51 in test cricket and 49 in ODIs in a career stretching from 1988 to 2013. He finished his career with a first-class batting average of 57.84, and scored more than 50,000 runs across all formats.
Other notable players:
Virender Sehwag – The big-hitting opener finished his professional career with a T20 strike rate of 147.83 and built a reputation for big innings and big hits in all formats.
Zaheer Khan – Still showing how deadly his left-arm pace swing bowling can be on the T10 circuit, he picked up more than 600 wickets during his career.
Full India squad for Road Safety World Series
Sachin Tendulkar (c), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sameer Dighe (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Sanjay Bangar, Munaf Patel, Mohammad Kaif, Pragyan Ojha, Sairaj Bahutule
West Indies
Captain: Brian Lara
Still showing his batting class on the exhibition circuit aged 50, the West Indian still holds the record for highest first-class score (501* for Warwickshire) and highest test-match score (400* against England) in a career which brought more than 22,000 international runs. Just to prove he’s still got it, he scored 30 from 11 balls in the recent Bushfire Bash match in Melbourne.
Other notable players:
Shivnarine Chanderpaul – The left-handed batsman was still scoring runs in first-class cricket at the age of 44. He scored nearly 21,000 international runs in his career.
Yohan Blake – One of the fastest sprinters of all-time, the two-time Olympic gold medallist is one of the celebrity attractions of this tournament with the Jamaican set to turn out for West Indies.
Full West Indies squad for Road Safety World Series
Brian Lara (c), Yohan Blake, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Adam Sanford, Carl Hooper, Danza Hyatt, Darren Ganga, Pedro Collins, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wk), Samuel Badree, Suleiman Benn
Australia
Captain: Brett Lee
The Wollongong-born paceman is one of the game’s fastest ever bowlers, producing hostile spells with bounce and pace throughout his career. He took 718 international wickets in total, and claimed two wickets in the recent Bushfire Bash charity match to prove he still has the quality.
Other notable players:
Ben Laughlin – The 37-year-old is one of the younger players in the tournament, having recently taken his career tally to 190 T20 wickets in 154 innings with some wicket-taking form Brisbane Heat at the Big Bash.
Mark Cosgrove – Even younger than Laughlin at 35, the stocky, big-hitting batsman has a strike rate of 123.19 in T20 cricket.
Full Australia squad for Road Safety World Series
Brett Lee (c), Brad Hodge, Brett Geeves, Clint McKay, Jason Krejza, Mark Cosgrove, Nathan Reardon, Ben Laughlin, Shane Lee, Travis Birt, Xavier Doherty
South Africa
Captain: Jonty Rhodes
Famous for his incredible fielding ability at backward point, with his cat-like reflexes, stunning catches and brilliant run-outs, Rhodes’ fielding masked a dependable record with the bat too. Now 50, he signed off his ODI career just short of 6,000 runs at an average of more than 35.
Other notable players:
Lance Klusener – A game-changing all-rounder, with his big hitting down the order in one-day cricket and some excellent bowling too. In ODI cricket, he finished his career averaging 41.10 with the bat and 29.95 with the ball – a brilliant ratio.
Albie Morkel – Took up the mantle when Klusener retired, he finished his T20 career with a strike rate of 138.65, while also picking up 247 wickets in the format.
Full South Africa squad for Road Safety World Series
Jonty Rhodes (c), Butch James, Andrew Hall, Garnett Kruger, Jacques Rudolph, Albie Morkel, JJ van der Wath, Neil Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Martin van Jaarsveld, Morne van Wyk, Paul Harris, Ryan McLaren
Sri Lanka
Captain: Tillakaratne Dilshan
A trailblazer in limited-overs cricket and forever associated with his ‘Dilscoop’ shot, the big-hitting Sri Lankan finished his ODI career with 10,290 runs in his 303 innings, while his numbers in test and T20 cricket stack up well too to reflect the danger he could pose with the bat.
Other notable players:
Muttiah Muralitharan – One of the game’s most iconic ever bowlers and the holder of the record for most test wickets (800). Across he all three formats, he finished his career with 1,347 wickets for Sri Lanka.
Chaminda Vaas – The left-arm quick was the other prong to Sri Lanka’s bowling attack, taking 761 international wickets in his career – making him possibly his country’s finest ever new-ball bowler.
Full Sri Lanka squad for Road Safety World Series
Tillakaratne Dilshan (c), Dulanjana Wijesinghe, Chamara Kapugedara, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Marvan Atapattu, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Sachithra Senanayake, Thilan Tushara, Thilina Kandamby, Upul Chandana
ROAD SAFETY WORLD SERIES: 11 LEGENDARY PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Road Safety World Series will see some of cricket’s greatest ever players return to the playing field for a tournament to promote road safety in India.
With one person dying in the country every four minutes, the tournament is designed to raise awareness of the need to improve road safety standards in the country.
The message off the pitch is a hugely important one, and the tournament has therefore attracted an all-star cast of players to help spread the word.
From batting legends Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara to bowlers such as Muttiah Muralitharan and Brett Lee, the tournament is a who’s who of cricketing greats from the past 30 years and more.
We have put together a composite XI of the best players set to return to the field for this tournament, which runs in India from March 7 to March 22.
Virender Sehwag (India Legends)
The big-hitting opener amassed runs at a phenomenal scoring rate no matter which format he was playing in. He averaged 49.34 in test cricket with a strike rate of 82.23, while his records in white-ball cricket are as ferocious as you would expect – including a highest ODI score of 219 against West Indies.
Romesh Kaluwitharana (Sri Lanka Legends - WK)
The Sri Lankan team captain for this tournament, Tillakaratne Dilshan, may boast the bigger reputation but wicket-keeper-batsman Kaluwitharana was the trailblazer for aggressive top-order batting.
His finest moments arrived at the 1996 World Cup, where he paired up with Sanath Jayasuriya to form a deadly opening partnership, tearing up the ODI script with their big-hitting and previously unthinkable strike rates.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies Legends)
An unorthodox batting stance, and his iconic glare protection under his eyes meant Shivnarine Chanderpaul was unmistakeable at the crease. And he spent a lot of time there too – scoring just shy of 21,000 international runs.
His longevity was one of his greatest assets, playing well into his 40s and continuing to score runs as he did so too.
Sachin Tendulkar (India Legends)
The most idolised batsman in the history of cricket, the Little Master set record after record when it came to batting. The most famous is his 100 international centuries – 51 in test cricket and 49 in ODIs.
Arguably the most complete batsman the game has ever seen, Tendulkar was the first man to score an ODI double-century and finished his career with more than 50,000 runs in professional cricket. Having made his name in the pre-T20 era, he proved his enduring class with a decent record in T20 cricket during his twilight years too.
Brian Lara (West Indies Legends)
Like Tendulkar, the diminutive West Indian batsman forged his own trail with the bat, setting some phenomenal records in a brilliant career. That included his 501* - the highest first-class score – for Warwickshire, and his as-yet-unbeaten 400* to set a new test best against England.
Lara scored more than 22,000 runs for West Indies in total, finishing his career with a test match average of 52.88. Of players to have featured in more than 100 test matches, only three others have a higher test match batting average.
Jonty Rhodes (South Africa Legends)
Possibly one of the finest fielders the game has ever seen, making the backward point position his own and taking stunning catch after stunning catch. His contributions in the field should not mask his batting ability either, where he showed a penchant for quick singles and innovative stroke play in one-day cricket too.
His test-match batting was best during his final years, while he scored 50 half-centuries and five hundreds across the two formats for South Africa.
Lance Klusener (South Africa Legends)
A trailblazer with the bat, the all-rounder cemented his big-hitting reputation at the 1999 World Cup with some of his finest one-day innings. He was far more than just a lower-order slogger, however – combing his big hitting with hostile bowling early in his career and some canny, economical cutters when injuries slowed him down.
His ODI record perhaps highlights his ability best – a batting average of 41.10 and a bowling average of 29.95. He also took more than 500 wickets in first-class cricket and would probably have enjoyed a T20 reputation similar to that of Andre Russell and Hardik Pandya had he been born later.
Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka Legends)
The left-arm quick is arguably Sri Lanka’s best ever new-ball bowler, capable of swinging or seaming the ball to deadly effect. Highlights include his 26 wickets in a three-game test series with West Indies in 2001-02, as well as an ODI eight-wicket haul against Zimbabwe and a World Cup hat-trick with the first three balls of a match against Bangladesh.
He was the fourth bowler to reach 400 ODI wickets and finished his international career with 761 across all formats. He also proved a canny batsman in his final years – including a test-match century against Bangladesh.
Brett Lee (Australia Legends)
One of the game’s finest (and fastest) bowlers, Lee was the brutal cog of an Australian bowling machine that also featured Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. He hit the deck hard and claimed more than 700 international wickets in total.
Bing stepped up to lead the bowling attack in his later years, and continued to thrive with some success on the T20 circuit before his retirement in 2015.
Zaheer Khan (India Legends)
India’s answer to Chaminda Vaas, the left-arm quick swung the ball viciously and his impact was perhaps best measured by the games he missed. Having led India to the top of the world test rankings in 2011, injury ruled him out of subsequent series against England and Australia and India’s form dried up until his return.
He finished his test-match career with 311 wickets – only Kapil Dev took more for India in test cricket – and his limited-overs career stands up for scrutiny too. In total, Zaheer took 610 international wickets – a tally which would have been significantly higher but for injury too.
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka Legends)
His 800th and final test-match wicket set a record which may never be broken. That only five other bowlers have even passed 500 wickets in test cricket is a testament to that. Murali put controversy over his bowling action behind him to produce some of the finest displays of match-winning spin bowling in international cricket.
An ODI best of 7-30 in a win against India was one such example and he also leads the ODI wicket-taking charts with 534 in total – only one other bowler, Wasim Akram, has taken more than 500 in the format. His doosra baffled the world’s best batsmen in a career covering nearly two decades at the top.
12th man – Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka Legends)
Only missed out on selection because of the need for a wicket-keeper and Romesh Kaluwitharana’s hitting ability at the top of the order. Where Kaluwitharana and Jayasuriya blazed a trail, Dilshan followed suit with his big-hitting.
Innovative – see the Dilscoop as the perfect example – he amassed more than 10,000 ODI runs, including 47 half-centuries and 22 hundreds. As well as his batting, he also took more than 100 ODI wickets too.
