Abu Dhabi T10 League: 49-year-old Pravin Tambe to play for defending champs Maratha Arabians
ABU DHABI: All the eight franchises have packed their teams with the most bankable international cricketers to gear up for the second season of the Abu Dhabi T10.
The sides have picked an impressive line-up of players from a pool of 600 international cricketers at the Players' Draft in Abu Dhabi. The competition will take place at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium from January 28 to February 6.
Defending champions Maratha Arabians acquired a good combination of experienced and new stars in their team including Icon Player Shoaib Malik's compatriot Mohammad Hafeez. They also went for 49-year-old former India cricketer Pravin Tambe, English cricketer Laurie Evans, Bangladeshi players Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed. They will be well supported by Ishan Malhotra, Abdul Shakoor and Sompal Kami.
With Chris Gayle as their Icon Player, Team Abu Dhabi have further bolstered their side with the addition of Alex Hales, Chris Morris, Najibullah Zadran, Ben Cox, Luke Wright, Rohan Mustafa, and Avishka Fernando.
The Bangla Tigers, who have Isuru Udana as their Icon Player, will be backed up by Andre Fletcher, Tom Moores, Qais Ahmad, Chirag Suri, Johnson Charles, David Wiese, Mohammad Irfan, Afif Hossain as well as Adam Hose, Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mahedi Hasan. The strong line-up will partly rely on Andre Fletcher's hard-hitting abilities.
With Icon Player Dwayne Bravo, Delhi Bulls' team includes Mohammad Nabi, Dushmantha Chameera, Sherfane Rutherford, Evin Lewis, Dasun Shanaka, Adam Lyth, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fidel Edwards and Shiraz Ahmed.
The Northern Warriors' Icon Player Andre Russell will receive tremendous support from Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Siddique, Rovman Powell, Nuwan Pradeep and Aamer Yamin this season.
With Sunil Narine as the Icon Player, the Deccan Gladiators have packed their side with Kieron Pollard, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Zahoor Khan, Colin Ingram, Mohammad Shahzad, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Azam Khan, Ravi Rampaul and Imran Tahir.
The Qalandars who have Shahid Afridi as their Icon Player, have been powered by Samit Patel, Phil Salt, Chris Jordan, Sultan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Sohail Tanvir, Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Sohail Akhtar and Sharjeel Khan.
The Pune Devils, who have Thisara Perera as their Icon Player, have picked up Mohammad Amir, Hardus Viljoen, Chamara Kapugedera, Sam Billings, Ajantha Mendis and Devon Thomas.