T10 Cricket League franchises buy key players in the players' draft

In the inaugural T10 Cricket League draft, the teams 10 players from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The league will be played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium next month. UAE players like skipper Rohan Mustafa, hard-hitting Shaiman Anwar and allrounder Amjad Javed are among the big players who were picked by the league.

The players draft was held on Saturday night in the presence of former Pakistan great Wasim Akram, England ODI skipper Eion Morgan, the likes of Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed.

After fetching a deal UAE captain Rohan Mustafa, captain of Kerela Kings, was quoted by the Gulf News as saying, “It is great to be picked to be with my all time favourite player Brian Lara (Kerala team mentor). I think I will have to learn some Malayalam, the language of the Kerala fans, that may drop in to cheer for our team.”

In a bid to encourage local talent, nearly 27 players were included in the draft and owners made their selections. Total 10 UAE players were drafted into the five teams. The sixth team: Team Sri Lanka Cricket will not have any UAE players as Sri Lanka Cricket announced that their team will comprise of the winners of their Super Super Provincial title held recently.

Meanwhile, Kerala Kings signed up Pakistan player Imran Haider, He will play with Kerala’s icon player Morgan.

Virender Sehwag to lead Maratha Arabians

The Maratha Arabians franchise, which will be led by Virender Sehwag, has picked Anwar who had scored a hundred in the 2016 World T20 for the UAE. “It’s a great honour to be able to play under Sehwag and I would be delighted to display some of Sehwag’s favourites shots that I play regularly.” Promising fast bowler Zahoor Khan, who came to limelight through ANIB XI, was also signed by the Maratha team.

Meanwhile, the Punjabi Legends’ icon player Shoaib Malik, who was present in the draw, opted for UAE wicketkeeper-batsman Ghulam Shabber and fast bowler Shareef Asadullah.

The Bengal Tigers bought UAE’s opening bowler Mohammad Naved.

“The whole tournament will be played only by internationals but we wanted two players to be from UAE. We are delighted to be able to give local players an opportunity to play with the big boys and garner the experience,” remarked Shaji Ul Mulk, the Chairman of the T10 committee.

Meanwhile, Team Sri Lanka Cricket will be led by Dinesh Chandimal and will feature all-rounder Thisara Perera. League Directors who will be in charge of Team Sri Lanka Cricket is Kashif Shahzad and Vijay Vyas. The other players that comprise Lankan team will be Lahiru Thirimanne, Dilshan Munaweera, Kithruwan Vithanage, Nipun Karunanayake, Angelo Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Wanidu Hasaranga, Kasun Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Vishva Fernando, Sachithra Senanayake, Jeffery Vandasay, Alankara Asanka and Angelo Jayasinghe.

Here are full squads of all 6 teams