Abu Dhabi T10 League: The sixth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 gets underway at the Zayed Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. The New York Strikers, captained by Kieron Pollard, take on the Bangla Tigers, led by Shakib Al Hasan.
140 cricketers have signed up for the tournament, including Eoin Morgan, David Miller, Adil Rashid, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Alex Hales, some of the most well-known names in cricket.
Abu Dhabi T10 League: Teams and Captains
The Deccan Gladiators, the current champions, will compete against Team Abu Dhabi in the second match of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Nicholas Pooran and Chris Lynn will serve as the two parties’ respective leaders.
A Gladiators team led by Mushtaq Ahmed will feature players like Andre Russell, David Wiese, and Tabraiz Shamsi. Last year, the Gladiators won seven out of ten games to finish first in their group, defeating Delhi Bulls in the qualifier and again in the championship game.
The Bulls, led by Dwayne Bravo and under the direction of Andy Flower, will open their season in a tripleheader on Thursday. Russell, a fellow West Indian, scored 90* off 32 balls in last year’s final, and Bravo finished second.
The Strikers and Morrisville Samp Army have joined the USA franchises for this year’s competition, bringing the total number of teams to eight.
After winning the T20 World Cup with England in Australia, Moeen Ali will take the helm of the Morrisville franchise once he arrives in the UAE. Lance Klusener will serve as head coach. Carl Crowe will lead the Strikers as their coach. Yuvraj Singh will serve as a valuable mentor.
Abu Dhabi T10 League: Indian Players
Yuvraj isn’t the only Indian cricketer who will be competing in the tournament. Others include Suresh Raina (Deccan Gladiators), Harbhajan Singh (Delhi Bulls), Stuart Binny (New York Strikers) and S. Sreesanth (Bangla Tigers).
Even though they make an exception for First-class and List A matches, the BCCI forbids Indian cricketers who are currently in the game from competing in international competitions. The Indians had to declare their retirement from domestic cricket in order to compete in the T10 league. This time, there are five Indians, all of whom were former Test cricketers.
Abu Dhabi T10 League: Format
There will be 33 games scheduled in Abu Dhabi over the next 12 days. Each side will play the other once. The top two teams will compete in a qualifier. The victor will advance to the final on December 4 on Sunday. In a virtual semifinal, the winner of the game between the teams in third and fourth position and the loser of the Qualifier will choose who advances to the final.
