Next edition of T10 League may be even bigger, founder says
Increase in number of teams and days, a Friday final and Super Over in the offing
Abu Dhabi: Following the colossal success of the third edition of the Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 tournament that concluded on Sunday, the organisers of the event have started work right away to introduce more innovation to the event next year to ensure that the T10 format remains attractive to the fans.
Speaking to Gulf News, Shaji Ul Mulk, the Chairman and Founder of Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10 tournament, revealed that for the next edition, the number of days may be increased, more teams could be included, super over will be introduced and the final will be scheduled for a Friday.
The enormous turn out from the fans at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, even on working days, has wiped away all doubts as to whether the spectator response will be the same as in the previous two editions held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
“Abu Dhabi was truly challenging but we proved beyond any doubt that T10 is a strong product and will attract fans,” said Shaji, who also have endorsed Delhi Bulls and England captain Eoin Morgan’s suggestion to hold next edition final on a Friday.
“For the next edition we will try to have three Fridays during the duration of the event and we will include a rest day during the event. We will also schedule the final for a Friday instead on a Sunday like this year,” said Shaji.
The third edition final held on Sunday, despite being a working day, was watched by 20,352 fans.
“We may increase the number of teams if we get an Indian Premier League (IPL) or a Caribbean Premier League team to play in our event. We are working towards it. We were very happy with the intensity with which each match was fought this year leading to even two matches ending in a tie,” said Shaji, who want to change the system of both teams one sharing one point each from a tie.
“Next year we will ensure that all matches will have a result and a winner. We will introduce Super Over and it will be an innovative one with instead of all six balls being bowled by a single bower we will have three balls each being bowled by two bowlers.”
Shaji, who visualised the concept of T10, is delighted that this league has become the platform for youngsters to get offers from other T20 leagues around the world and having won the approval of top cricketers. Champions team Maratha Arabians’ star players and Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, remarked after the final that he will come back again. “Winning the championship is really special. The top two sides in the tournament played the final. It was a fast event, a big experience for me. If other countries play some T10, they’ll get used to it. Took us time to get used to it before we took off. I’d like to sort my body out, and turn up again next year.”
Morgan feels that Pakistan players not getting the NOC to play in this year’s T10 has benefited many England players, who played for Qalandars. “We had a lot of English players playing in the tournament. I think that it correlates with Pakistan guys having issues with the NOC. The English cricketers is benefiting from it because more we can get domestic players playing in winter when a lot of the guys are doing nothing at home.”