Dubai: The upcoming T10 Cricket League will be played with white ball instead of pink ball following the suggestion of India’s two-time World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Speaking to Gulf News, Shaji Ul Mulk, the chairman of T10 Cricket League, who held talks with Dhoni during the launch of the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy (MSDCA) earlier this month, said: “Dhoni and I talked at length about T10 cricket and he had some very interesting suggestions. He suggested that we should stick to white balls instead of the pink for our tournament.”
Mulk, who visualised the concept of T10 league, carried some of Dhoni’s suggestions to the T10 team owners and directors who met at Capital Club in DIFC to finalise the rules of the first ever T10 Cricket League which will be held from December 14 at the Sharjah Stadium. Following the meeting, team owners confirmed that all matches shall be played with white Kookaburra Turf Balls. Owners also voted against use of a pink ball under the light and keeping in mind the bright colours of the uniforms of the six teams taking part.
Like in T20 format, the minimum number of overs that has to be played in case of rain or interruption has been fixed to five overs per innings. In case of rain, the outcome of the match shall be derived using the Duckworth Lewis method.
It was also decided that in case of a tie, the result of the match shall be decided by a Super Over. Two points will be awarded for a win.
To ensure that the tournament is free of any corruption the owners and directors has decided to circulate the ICC Anti Corruption and ICC Anti Doping Codes and even stage an education sessions on playing conditions, code of conduct, ICC Anti Corruption and ICC Anti Doping on December 13, the day before the tournament.
The tournament will take off with Bengal Tigers taking on Kerala Kings soon after the opening ceremony on December 14. The owners agreed that players’ replacement will be allowed only for a player who is unavailable for the entire league due to unavoidable reasons. The replacement player can be selected from the list of unpicked players either from the same category or from the lower category as per the original player list.
