T10 Cricket League 2017: Teams, Schedule and all you need to know

The first edition of the T10 Cricket League is all set to commence in Sharjah and all the star players involved are escalating the excitement in the fans. This League was brought into existence by UAE’s famous business tycoon Shaji Ul Mulk, who is also the chairman of the Mulk Holdings. Salman Iqbal, owner of the ARY Groups from Pakistan, will be the President of this League.

A lot of big players have consented to be a part of this cricketing extravaganza. As we all know, T20 Cricket changed the entire dynamics of the game. Keeping this drastic evolution in mind, T10 cricket is coming into the fray and it is said to be a 90-minute contest between the bat and ball.

One of the main reasons behind the inception of T20 Cricket was to attract more fans. With the world advancing so much, people are becoming very busy in their life and they don’t have enough time to attend an ODI or a Test match. A T20 match lasts for about 3 hours, almost as much as a film, which took the World by a storm. The Indian Premier League had a huge role to play in the success of T20 Cricket.

But now, we have an even shorter version of the game. Some legendary names like Virender Sehwag, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, and Inzamam-ul-Haq (Team owner) are a part of this league. This is also said to be a major boost for the local UAE players, who will be getting a priceless chance to share the dressing room with few of the biggest International cricketing names.

Whilst the excitement for this tournament is certainly palpable, it’ll be interesting to see if this tournament can have an impact like that of T20 cricket. The tournament is all set to commence in the third week of December and will last for a span of four days from December 14 to 17th. Here are the details of all the teams, their owners, and some of the marquee signings made by the franchises.

Schedule

December 14

6 pm, opening ceremony, followed by:

Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings

Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons

December 15

4 pm, Bengal Tigers v Punjabi Legends

6 pm, Maratha Arabians v Team Sri Lanka

8 pm, Punjab Legends v Kerala Kings

10 pm, Pakhtoons v Team Sri Lanka

December 16

4 pm, 1st in Group A v 3rd in Group B

6 pm, 3rd in Group A v 1st in Group B

8 pm, 2nd v Group A v 2nd in Group B

10 pm, 5/6th place play-off

December 17

5.30pm, 1st semi-final – Team 1 v Team 4, followed by second semi-final and final

Teams, Icon Players, Owners and the local talents

Maratha Arabians

Icon Player: Virender Sehwag (India)

Top picks: Mohammed Amir (Pakistan), Imad Wasim (Pakistan)

UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan

Owners: Bollywood star Sohail Khan & businessmen Ali Tumbi & Parvez Khan

Bengal Lions

Icon Player: Sarfraz Ahmed (Pakistan)

Top picks: Sunil Narine (West Indies), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)

UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad

Owners: Neelesh Bhatnagar, Rizwan & Anis Sajan

Kerala Kings

Icon player: Eoin Morgan (England)

Top picks: Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Sohail Tanvir (Pakistan)

UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider

Owners: Dr. Shafi Ul Mulk

Pakhtoons

Icon Player: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)

Top picks: Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider

Owners: Habib Khan

Punjabi Legends

Icon Player: Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

Top Picks: Hasan Ali (Pakistan), Chris Jordan (England)

UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah

Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq

Team Sri Lanka Cricket

The Sri Lankan International cricket team will be taking part in this tournament, led by Dinesh Chandimal. Alongside a bunch of Lankan youngsters, some senior players like Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dilshan Munaweera, Dushmantha Chameera, and Sachitra Senanayake will be taking part in this event.