TAKASHINGA Patriots 1 are spoilt for choice as they boast of a galaxy of stars when they line up to defend their National Premier League 45 Overs crown beginning this weekend.

Talk of brotherly affairs, they have the Masakadza brothers, Hamilton and Wellington in their fold and the Kaia siblings, Roy and Innocent.

They also have the towering left, and right twin seamers, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani and their not-so-distant pacer cousin, Tanaka Chivanga which makes for an imposing and lethal seam attack.

In addition to that, there is the returning kid and vicious seamer, Nigel Mupurura who is joining them for the NPL from Australia among other big names.

This year’s edition promises to be bigger, better and full of fireworks given the coming on board of talented debuting sides such as Rangers and Kadoma’s Rimuka.

Patriots 1 skipper, Roy Kaia predicts an intriguing season.

“Playing the NPL 45 Overs competition as the defending champions won’t be easy as you know there are new boys in town, who went all out on a shopping spree to boost their squads,” Kaia talks to Takaz Media.

“We are the defending champions and we are going to play as such in this 45 overs NPL and ensure that we claim the top prize for the second successive year.”

Rangers from Harare Metropolitan, Mashonaland East’s Strikers, Rimuka from Mashonaland West and Knights from Masvingo are the four debuting sides at this year’s NPL.