Abu Dhabi T10 franchises assemble explosive squads ahead of season 6
The eight franchises have put their best foot forward, assembling strong and competitive squads, packed with exciting talent from all over the world, ahead of the sixth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 which tees off at the magnificent Zayed Cricket Stadium on Novemer 23, with its final being played across UAE’S National Day weekend on 4th December.
Cricket’s most exciting format has added two new franchises with American teams New York Strikers and Morrisville SAMP Army making it an 8-team carnival.
Defending champions Deccan Gladiators, who have Nicholas Pooran as their Icon player, have signed on some serious talent in Andre Russell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, David Wiese, Tom Kohler-cadmore, Luke Wood, Odean Smith, Josh Litle, Will Smeed, Zahir Khan, Curtis Campher, Zahoor Khan, Adeel Malik, Sultan Ahmed, Jason Roy and Taskin Ahmed.
The Bangla Tigers, with Shakib Al Hasan as their Icon Player, have acquired the services of Evin Lewis, Colin Munro, Hazratullah Zazai, Joe Clarke, Benny Howell, Ben Cuting, Mohammad Amir, Matheesha Pathirana, Nurul Hasan, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Rohan Mustafa, Chirag Suri, Umair Ali, Dan Christian and Jake Ball.
With Dwayne Bravo as the Icon Player, the Delhi Bulls are leaving no stone unturned in their quest for silverware and have brought on board the likes of Tim David, Rilee Rossouw, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Will Jacks, Dominic Drakes, Najibullah Zadran, Richard Gleeson, Keemo Paul, Mitchell Stanley, Shiraz Ahmed, Karnal Zahid, Ayaan Khan, Imad Wasim and Jordan Cox.
Dasun Shanaka headlines the Chennai Braves squad, who have added some further muscle by picking Carlos Brathwaite, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Obed Mccoy, Maheesh Theekshana, Ollie Stone, Ben Ducket, Sam Cook, Sikandar Raza, Ross Whiteley, Kobe Hert, Kartik Meyyappan, Vriitya Aravind, Sabir Rao, Laurie Evans and James Fuller.
Two-time champions Northern Warriors have kept hold of Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and bolstered the squad with the additions of Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell, Adam Lyth, Reece Topley, Kennar Lewis, Wayne Parnell, Adam Hose, Chris Green, Rayad Emrit, Gus Atkinson, Junaid Siddique, Usman Khan, Hamdan Tahir, Dushmantha Chameera and Mohammad Irfan.
Team Abu Dhabi, who have named Chris Lynn is the Icon Player, have snapped up the services of Fabian Allen, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Naveen Ul
New York Strikers have gone in with the experienced Pollard as their icon player while Samp Army recruited all-rounder Miller as their big signing alongside Moeen
Haq, Tymal Mills, Jamie Overton, James Vince, Brandon King, Darwish Rasooli, Alishan Sharafu, Amad But, Ali Abid, Ethan D’souza, Mustafizur Rahman and Peter Hatzoglou.
Meanwhile, newbies New York Strikers have gone in with the experienced Kieron Pollard as their Icon Player. And he will be supported by the likes of Eoin Morgan, Azam Khan, Paul Stirling, Romario Shepherd, Andre Fletcher, Wahab Riaz, Jordan Thompson, Kesrick Williams, Izharulhaq Naveed, Tom Hartley, Muhammad Waseem, Nav Pabreja, Muhammad Farooq, Akeal Hosein and Ravi Rampaul.
The Lance Klusener coached Morrisville SAMP Army picked David Miller as their Icon Player and have further pencilled in Anrich Nortje, Shimron Hetmyer, Moeen Ali, Dwaine Pretorius, Johnson Charles, Chamika Karunaratne, George Garton, Andries Gous, Abraham Pienaar, Ibrahim Zadran, Ahmed Raza, Kashif Daud, Basil Hameed, Sheldon Cotrell and Karim Janat.
Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman, T10 Sports Management said, “It’s been very nice to see the growth of the league over the years. I’m delighted about how the Abu Dhabi T10 Players Drat panned out on this busy Monday. The success of any event depends on partnerships and the teams working on the event and the Abu Dhabi Cricket and Sports Hub is unbeatable. I am sure that this season will be even more exhilarating than the previous years.
“The squads are all very competitive and I would like to welcome the cricketers here once more. May the best team win,” he added.