Dubai: A clutch of the top stars in limited overs cricket from around the world were snapped up by the teams participating in the T10 Cricket League, to be held next month at the Sharjah Stadium from December 14-17. The Players’ Draft were held in a luxury yacht called Lotus, docked at Dubai Marina, which saw world’s best 60 players being chosen by the teams.
Pakistan’s two heroes — Mohammad Amir and Fakhar Zaman — who helped them win the Champions Trophy in England were snapped up in a flash. Maratha Arabians who had won the rights to make the first pick during the Pick Order Draw held last week, picked Amir while Pakthoons, who were second in the order for pick, went for Zaman. The two team owners were guided in their choice by legendary pacer Wasim Akram, the coach of the Maratha team and Shahid Afridi, the captain of Pakthoons.
Bengal Tigers, captained by Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad, went for West Indies spinner Sunil Narine.
When the Kerala Kings’ turn came, captain Eoin Morgan and coach Robin Singh through a quick discussion picked one of the world’s finest hard-hitting all-rounders Keiron Pollard.
Punjab Legends, to be captained by Pakistan’s veteran player Shoaib Malek, went for the world’s top ranked and rising star Hasan Ali.
The players’ draft was attended by Emirates Cricket Board’s top officials Waleed Bukhatir, Zayed Abbas and Mazhar Khan.
Shaji-Ul Mulk, the chairman of the T10 Cricket League, who also visualised this event, said: “It is the first time we have had a player draft in the UAE. The yacht as a venue have added an extra dose of glamour.”
Five teams out of the six teams took part in the draft as the sixth team Sri Lanka will be made up of entirely Sri Lankan players that won their domestic Super Provincial title but will have players like their Test team captain Dinesh Chandimal, all-rounder Thisara Perera and inform Lahiru Thirimanna.
Maratha Arabians then went on to pick Imad Wasim and England’s Alex Hales in the subsequent rounds. Pakthoons then choose Bangladesh’s hard-hitting opener Tamim Iqbal and West Indies’ star Dwayne Smith.
Bengal Tigers went one ahead by roping in two-time Twenty20 World Cup winning captain Darren Sammy and Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, who has the record for the most wickets in a debut series.
Kerala enthused by getting Pollard went for Sohail Tanvir and Shakib Al Hasan in the next rounds. Punjab Legends picked Umar Akmal and Chris Jordan. Salman Iqbal, the president of the T10 league said: “I am confident that the format is here to stay.”
Ten UAE players have already been picked by the different teams in a draft for the UAE players held on Saturday. Speaking to Gulf News, UAE all-rounder Amjad Javed, who has been picked by the Afridi-led Pakthoons team, echoed the feeling of the UAE players. “By getting picked to play alongside the world’s best players, we all want to show that we are no less than any of the professional players out there. To play under a legendary all-rounder like Afridi will be special for me as it surely will be for my other UAE teammates too.”
