Kumble to feature in Hong Kong Super Sixes

Former Indian captain Anil Kumble will be part of an Indian team, featuring among others Manish Pandey and Lakshimpathy Balaji, in the 15th Hong Kong Cricket Sixes to be played at the Kowloon Cricket Club on October 31 and November 1.

The 2005 Player of the Tournament, Reetinder Sodhi, Sridharan Sriram, Stuart Binny, the son of former Indian all-rounder Roger Binny, and Jagadesh Arunkumar, the leading run-scorer in the domestic Karnataka Premier League Cup, are also part of the Indian squad. 

The event has been included by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a 'Catch the Spirit' event for the governing body's centenary celebrations, the organisers said in a statement.  

Kumble is hoping to lead his team to a win to add to the only Sixes title they won back in 2005. 

Balaji, once a regular member of the national set-up in 2004 and 2005, sat out for three years due to stress fractures before returning to take 11 wickets in the Indian Premier League last year, including a hat-trick.

"Playing against Sri Lanka earlier this year gave me a taste of being back with an Indian team, so I am thrilled to be playing at the Hong Kong Sixes. Any team that has Anil has a chance to do very well and I am sure we can be real contenders for the Cup final," Balaji said.

Along with Kumble and Balaji, also representing India is Kumble's Champions League Twenty20 team-mate from the Royal Challengers Bangalore – Manish Pandey.

The 20-year-old Pandey stunned many when he became the first Indian to record a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL), smashing 114 off just 73 balls against the Deccan Chargers earlier this year in South Africa in the tournament's second edition.

"I have heard great things about the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes from Anil, who is an inspiration for all cricketers in Bangalore and India. I am thrilled to be coming to what I have heard is a very exciting event for the spectators and lookforward to trying to put on a show for the Hong Kong fans at the Kowloon Cricket Club," he said. 

In a new innovation this year, the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes pools will be divided into Northern and Southern hemisphere groups. India will take part in showpiece matches against geographical rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka on day one, along with a round-robin match against defending champions England.