In a new first, a tournament in the United Arab Emirates will see cricket being played in 90 minutes, like football, in 10 overs, according to media reports.
Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, West Indies star batsman, Chris Gayle, former Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, and former Pakistan all-rounder, Shahid Afridi have all been announced as the brand ambassadors for the tournament. Afridi will be leading the Pakhtoons team as well.
According to a report on the Sportswallah website, the tournament is scheduled to be a 4-day weekend event from December 21 to December 24. Six teams, named after selected South Asian regions, will participate in the tournament.
The tournament is slated to have a unique opening ceremony and is also expected to see some never-seen-before innovations on a cricket field, said the report. More than 20 celebrities are expected to perform at the four-day event.
According to PTI, the teams playing in the league are, Team Punjabis, Team Pakhtoons, Team Maratha, Team Banglas, Team Lankans, Team Sindhis and Team Keralites, among others. The auction will be conducted in the United Arab Emirates.
Member of the Emirates Cricket Board, Mulk Holding was quoted as saying to cricketcountry.com, “We are very excited about the concept of T10 as it brings cricket to the level of world sports of 90 minutes and fast pace action. We all enjoy T20. Wait till you experience T10! We have based this league on a South Asian concept as we have a dominant south Asian, cricket crazy population in the UAE and GCC.”