The Abu Dhabi T10 will kick off on the 23rd of November 2022 and will be a two-week long tournament that will see international cricket stars compete in a short and exciting 10-over format.
Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Chris Lynn and David Miller all among this year’s Abu Dhabi T10 Icon Player picks.
Bravo has been retained by the Delhi Bulls, Defending champions Deccan Gladiators have retained five seasoned campaigners in West Indies’ all-rounders Andre Russell and Odean Smith.
This year will also see the introduction of two new USA franchises; the New York Strikers and the Morrisville SAMP Army.
New York Strikers have gone for Pollard as their Icon Player, Pollard is one of the most devastating and successful players in the history of white ball cricket.
Shimron Hetmyer also signed up with Morrisville SAMP Army.
Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman T10 Sports Management said: “I am pleased to welcome on board the Morrisville Samp Army and New York Strikers from USA to our Abu Dhabi T10 family. Our aim for the league was to establish the Abu Dhabi T10 as one of the standout events on the international cricket calendar and grow our global broadcast viewership numbers which currently stand at 342 million. With the addition of the two new teams from Americas, we continue building on the success of the tournament as cricket’s fastest format continues to evolve at a rapid rate across continents.
“We’re proud to assemble this star cast of players as the Icon and Platinum players for this season and hope to see the fans back into the stadium for the 6th edition of the tournament.”
Sagar Khanna, Owner New York Strikers: “I am elated to be part of the T10 journey and I’m really looking forward to this season and more. The New York Strikers will put their best foot forward to meet the passion of the Abu Dhabi T10. We hope that the team can go all the way, and they will have all the support from the management in that endeavour. The Abu Dhabi T10 is among the best events in the cricket calendar and I’m sure that the New York Strikers will add even more colour to the tournament.”
“It is a start of a new and exciting chapter for Samp Army. Abu Dhabi T10 is a unique and a highly competitive competition which brings together elite players from across the globe. It gives us the perfect opportunity to compete against the some of the best players in the world and test ourselves out. We are looking forward to the season and hopefully we make our fans proud back home in the USA,” added Ritesh Patel, Owner, Morrisville Samp Army.
Teams are currently selecting players for the sixth season and some big names have been named so far. Accordingly,
01. Deccan Gladiators
Gladiators have retained five players for the next season and they are West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell, West Indian fast bowler Odean Smith, Namibian player David Wiese, UAE player Zahoor Khan, and English player Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
02. New York Strikes
Strikes, a new franchise for T10, has selected four players so far and three of them have been named in three categories. Accordingly, former West Indies limited-overs captain, Kieron Pollard (captain) as an Icon player, former England captain Eoin Morgan as a platinum player, Irish player Paul Starling, and Pakistani player Azam Khan have been classified as category A.
03. Team Abu Dhabi
The Team Abu Dhabi franchise has also retained three players and two players have been named as Icon and Platinum. According to that, the players who have been retained are English players Phil Salt and Jamie Overton as well as Afghanistan’s Naveen Ul Haq. Australia’s devastating batsman Chris Lynn is the icon player and England’s Alex Hales is the platinum player.
04. Morrisville Samp Army
Samp Army have so far picked up four players for their first season, with South Africa’s devastating batsman David Miller as Icon Player as well as South Africa’s own Anrich Nortje as their Platinum Player. West Indies Shimron Hetmyer and England’s Moeen Ali have been selected under Category A.
05. Chennai Braves
Accordingly, the Braves have acquired five players so far. Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain Dasun Shanaka is their icon player (also captain), while Sri Lanka’s own young pacer Maheesh Theekshans, and devastating batsman Bhanuka Rajapaksha, as well as Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shezard, have been retained in their franchise for the sixth edition. In addition, West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite has been named as one of their platinum players.
06. Northern Warriors
West Indies Devastating middle order batsman Rowman Powell (captain), Kenner Lewis, and Reece Topley have been retained among the players selected for their sixth season. Also, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, the world’s leading spinner in the short format, has been signed as their icon player and Sherafane Rutherford as their platinum player.
07. Bangla Tigers
Tigers have so far selected five players for the sixth season and have retained Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and Sri Lanka’s young fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana. Bangladesh’s number one all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan (captain) is their icon player and West Indies’ devastating opener Evin Lewis is their platinum play Also, Colin Munro of New Zealand has signed with Tigers under Category A.
08. Delhi Bulls
The bulls have selected five players for their franchise for this year’s T10 tournament. Accordingly, West Indies player Dominic Drakes, South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw, and Afghanistan’s Rahmnaullha Gurbaz are the players who have been retained. Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has been signed as one of their icon players (also captain) and Tim David as a platinum player.
The West Indies players named so far are; Andre Russell, Odean Smith, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Carlos Brathwaite, Rowman Powell, Kenner Lewis, Sherafane Rutherford, Evin Lewis, Dominic Drakes, and Dwayne Bravo.
All eight squads will take final shape at the tournament’s 2022 Official Player Draft on 26 September in Abu Dhabi.