Third 10PL tennis ball cricket event launched in Sharjah
Richest event will be contested by 16 teams at Sharjah Stadium
Sharjah: Tennis ball cricket, which has been the first step towards international fame for many great cricketers, will be back at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium through the third edition of the 10Premier League from March 8 to 13. The trophy, jersey and anthem of this tournament, which is the richest tennis ball cricket tournament in the world with a prize money of Dh250,000, was launched on Wednesday night.
The colourful launch function was attended by Mubashir Usmani, the General Secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board and Mazhar Khan of the Sharjah Cricket Council and the General Manager of Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the presence of Abdul Latif Khan, who visualised this tournament and Parvez Khan of Petromann, the title sponsors of the event.
Sixteen teams divided into four groups will vie for the 10PL title, which has earned the reputation of being the World Cup of tennis ball cricket. Teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and UAE will take part. West Indies legendary all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is the brand ambassador for the event and will be arriving soon the witness the contest. For the first time, an India-Pakistan exhibition match is also scheduled to be held on March 11 at the Sharjah Stadium from 8.30pm.
Speaking to Gulf News during the ceremony, Latif Khan said: “The last two editions were a huge success and so I want to make this edition better and bigger than the previous ones. Though this form of cricket is most popular in India and Pakistan but ever since we hosted this tournament every tennis ball cricket player now aims to play in this tournament. We had players like former Pakistan wicketkeeper batsman Zulqarnain Haider, former Sri Lankan Test cricketers-Chamara Silva and Thilan Thushara play in the tournament. To ensure that it is a clean tournament, for the first time ECB’s Anti-Corruption Officer will be present during the tournament.”
Usmani, assuring ECB’s support for the event, said: “This is very good that such a tournament is being held here and this will also aid the development of the cricket in this region.”
The grouping for the tournament was held during the function. In A group is Inter Globe Marine, Eleven Warriors, ECraft Media, Globe Link West Star Shipping, Group B will have Petromann, Friends Kuwaits, Shehenshan Warriors and Eleven Warriors Dubai. Group C is made up of Dombivili Gramin Star, Tiptop Alliance, SJA Shipping, Indo Riders. Group will have Aasha Ki Kiran Raigad Warriors, Island Boys Sri Lanka, UKCC Kuwait and Hashmi CC.