Jacqueline Fernandez hogs the limelight as ‘Bell’ rings for the World Championship of Legends at the Edgbaston Cricket ground

By K.R. Nayar

Dubai. At a colourful function held at the Taj Hotel in Dubai, Bollywood actress and model Jacqueline Fernandez signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with owners of the World Championship of Legends (WCL) on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Former England batsman Ian Bell literally rang the bell for this six-nation tournament while unveiling the England Champions jersey.

 

Jacqueline Fernandez with Praveen Kumar Sharma, Meteora Developers Founder and CEO, Harshit Tomar WCL Founder & CEO and Omar La Omour, Meteora Partner

Jacqueline signed the MOU with Meteora Developers Founder and CEO Praveen Kumar Sharma and WCL Founder & CEO Harshit Tomar in the presence of Omar La Omour, Meteora Partner. Meteora Developers also officially announced its acquisition of the esteemed England Champions cricket team and Jacqueline will co-own England Champions team.

Introducing the event, Tomar revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who enthused him to think about staging such a tournament. “During one of my meetings with Tendulkar, he mentioned that there was tremendous scope for legends cricket, and that was the trigger for this tournament.”

Jacqueline Fernandez,  Praveen Kumar Sharma, Ian Bell and Parvez Khan of Pacific Starsports and Toyamsports

The result is the birth of World Championship of Legends involving six teams - England, Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa, which will be held from July 3 to July 13th at the Edgbaston Cricket ground (Birmingham). Players like ‘Boom Boom’ Shahid Afridi who will captain Pakistan, India’s Yuraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Bell and many greats will be seen in action there. An India-Pakistan match, which can evoke nostalgic memories, will be the clash to watch.

 

Jacqueline Fernandez arrives to sign the MOU 

Neeil Ojha, a renowned radio host and commentator, who was the MC for the event, prepared Jacqueline like she was playing a cricket match, through a few warm-up questions on the game. After she emerged successful in that, she said: "This is my first association with a league. It is a new and exciting experience for me."

Jacqueline Fernandez signs the MOU 

Like the bowlers who would bowl at Bell, numerous questions were showered on him. When this writer reminded him that his last Test series of his career was in UAE and his last Test in Sharjah in which he had scored a 40, and also had hit an unbeaten 52 in his last One-Day International, and asked him whether the WCL would be an opportunity for him to display his form once again, Bell said: “It is a tournament for every player to continue playing.’” He also added that: “This is a tournament for both retired players and those who have just come out of their central contracts.”

 

Neeil Ojha with Ian Bell 

Praveen Kumar Sharma noted there would be no draft like we see in the leagues around the world, since this tournament is a nationality-based event. “This will make it more competitive,” he added. The organisers believe that this would lure fans of each participating county to the ground too. Additionally, the dates of the tournament, which would be during peak summer, will be an added attraction for the fans to be at the historic Edgbaston.

 

Jacqueline Fernandez steps forward to back cricket 

Harshit Tomar is thankful to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for the permission and the guidelines to be followed which will ensure a high quality tournament. With Jacqueline Fernandez who has won the hearts of fans through her Bollywood movies like Race 2 and Race 3, and two versions of Houseful, this event will be a race to success with a very high possibility of witnessing houseful turn-outs at Edgbaston.