Dubai: Following the huge success of the first T10 league held in December last year at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, the organisers are in discussions to transform league into a global event.
Shaji ul Mulk, the chairman of the T10, who conceptualised this format, while announcing the future plans of the tournament from a yacht in Dubai Marina on Wednesday, said: “We are in discussions with the cricket boards of England and West Indies about staging the tournaments in the T10 format there. We will be holding meetings in March to further finalise the plans.”
The organisers received a huge boost with Heera Group agreeing to remain as the event’s title sponsors for the second edition scheduled to be held in December this year. “The intention is to take T10 global. Working with a powerful cricket boards like the England board will be another feather in our cap. The format will be an independent league and Sharjah will continue with its own format,” added Shaji.
Kerala Kings, captained by England’s One-day captain Eoin Morgan and owned by Shafi ul Mulk and Adam Ali had won the first edition of this tournament and hence has generated an interest among cricket fans in England and in Kerala.
Shaji also revealed that the format will also be played in the United States and Saudi Arabia within the next two years.
Mazhar Khan, general manager of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, said: “Saudi Arabia has shown a lot of interest and is keen to stage the event at the earliest.”
“The first edition final was watched by 15,000 capacity crowd and according to ground officials another 7,000 were left outside. This proves that Sharjah is the venue for T10, and I am look forward to host the next edition in December,” Mazhar added.
Parvez Khan, who is a member of the governing council of the league said the second edition will expand with two more teams. “The second edition will be two and a half times the size of the first edition. The duration of the tournament will be extended from four days to 10, with 31 matches to be played.
The fee to buy one of the two new franchises has trebled from $400,000 (Dh1.47 million) to $1.2m and we have already got six firm bids for the two teams.”
The organisers also revealed that they will hold talks with Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to allow players from India to play in this tournament’s second edition.
Dr Nowhera Shaik, Founder and CEO of Heera Group, said: “We were very happy with the response for the inaugural edition and we will all work together and meet the BCCI officials to involve Indian players. The tournament is a child which is growing fast.”
