But the legend lives on, and so does the interest in building a business on the legends cricket leagues—a T20 format rolled out in 2020s that brings together retired international stars in franchise-based teams.
These were scenes from the matches hosted at Verna’s 1919 Sportz Cricket Stadium in Goa, which was home to the first ever World Legends Pro T20 League, starring retired legendary cricketers from India and around the world, including Bravo, New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, Australian batsman Shaun Marsh, legendary South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, and West Indies hard-hitter Chris Gayle, along with and a bevy of Indian stars such as Shikhar Dhawan, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik.
Much like in the movies and music industries, the business of cricket has been testing out nostalgia as a factor to pull crowds and build a sustainable cricket league outside the Indian Premier League. World Legends Pro T20 is the latest among them, founded by SG Sports and Entertainment, launched in 2022 and backed by industrial goods firm APL Apollo Group.
“In general, to do anything significant in the sports business, there has to be an element of cricket,” Mahesh Bhupathi, former international tennis champion and chief executive officer of SG Sports, told mint in an interview. “That is how money flows in India. A few have tried (legends’ leagues) before, but not followed through with it after a couple of seasons.”
Among these leagues is the Legends League Cricket T20. Founded by media executives Raman Raheja and Vivek Khushalani, the league raised ₹39 crore in 2024 from a Dubai-based real estate company. It did not have a season last year, but will hold a new one this March.
Star cast assembly
The trouble with setting up any league is getting the first season off the ground. Bhupathi says the easier part was convincing retired legendary cricketers to come play for a league in India.
“There are more and more retired players who are keen to continue playing in this format,” he said. “The competitive juices never leave you as an athlete. We have tried to put together a very competitive league, and we have 90 players in the first season, which is a big win. I am hearing it from the players, officials, commentators that getting these 90 players in one venue is a minor miracle.”
For now, the World Legends Pro T20 league has six team owners, who have signed 10-year contracts for ₹150 crore each. “We will restrict this to six teams until 2028,” Bhupathi said. “The first season is the toughest to get off the ground and we want to build this out for the next three-five years, make it one of the most successful leagues in the country.”
Nostalgia Pull
SG Sports’ legends league concluded last week in Goa, with Shikhar Dhawan-led Dubai Royals winning over Kieran Pollard’s Pune Panthers. The tournament was streamed on Sony LIV and FanCode, and also some free streaming on YouTube, experimenting with various modes of broadcast, Bhupathi said.
Goa was deliberately chosen despite its greater affinity for football over cricket. “Fans in Goa don’t get to watch cricket all the time, be it India games or the IPL, where crowds get to see these names,” he said. “Also, Goa is a destination and has its own sex appeal.” The state’s Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) was a leading sponsor of the event.
In a separate interview with mintGoa’s minister for tourism Rohan Khaunte said he has been developing the state as a center of sports tourism. “We host an Ironman race, a world table tennis league, a volleyball tournament, and the World Legends Pro T20 League tournament as well.”
But can nostalgia alone drive a successful series?
“Star athletes remain a key driver of fandom in sports, including team sports like cricket,” Yannick Colaco, co-founder of sports streaming platform FanCode told mint. “Technology has strengthened direct relationships between athletes and fans, and that connection often outlives a player’s active career, which is why legends-based events continue to attract interest.”
But, he said, nostalgia may not be enough to drive a long-term sports property. “Fans may tune in because of a familiar name, but sustained engagement depends on the quality of the cricket,” Colaco said.
“We’ve seen this work well in global football, where legends properties are used as long-term fan engagement and brand-building tools rather than one-off spectacles. For cricket, building durable legends leagues will require a focus on performance and story-line driven narratives, with promoters, broadcasters and sponsors working together to turn star power into sustainable properties.”
Yet, the numbers show that, at least in the beginning, legends leagues get plenty of attention even in a jam-packed cricket calendar. For example, the World Championship of Legends 2025 engaged 70 million fans online in India and over 400 million globally, Colaco told mint. The league, partly owned by actor Ajay Devgn, hosted its inaugural season in 2024 in the UK. However, it ran into trouble last year, as Indian players pulled out of matches against Pakistan citing political tensions between the two countries.
In 2023, the Legends League Cricket became the second-most watched T20 cricket tournament in India on TV, mint previously reported.
While Bhupathi did not share viewership numbers for his legends league, he says he’s happy with the way the season played out and is getting interest from sponsors.
“One thing we’ll do next year is to make the process of selection a little more detailed and a little more wide,” he added. “There are a lot of quality cricket players who are keen to play, I think we’re in a good place.”
Meanwhile, as the talent pool in Indian and international cricket grows and more legends look to retire from actively playing in international games, at least there will be enough star power to pique cricket-crazy fans’ interest.
