Eight teams have formed some of the best combinations from a pool of 64 top cricketers in the Players’ Draft for the 2.0 Se10 League – the limited ten-over format cricket – that takes place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from November 23 to December 2, 2018.

Eight teams – Kerala Kings, Punjab Legends, Maratha Arabians, Bengal Tigers, The Karachians, Rajputs, Northern Warriors and Pakhtoons – have been drawn into two groups to fight it out in the 2nd Season of T10 League.
This year, two teams – The Karachians and Northern Warriors – have been added to the list of the earlier six teams. This will expand the support and fan base of the T10 League.

This year’s Players’ Draft featured a number of Afghan players who displayed exceptional skills in the international cricket, following gaining Test status,

Last year’s champions Kerala Kings have picked up top draw Chris Gale, Junaid Khan, Sandeep Lamichhane, Tom Curran, Fabian Allen, Niroshan Dickwella, Benny Howell, as well as Imran Nazir – making a strong come back after being on the sideline for a while.

Players such as Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Luke Ronchi, Muhammad Sami, Zahir Khan, Umar Akmal, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tom Moores, Anwar Ali, Jade Dernbach and Hassan Khan have been selected by Punjabi Legends – last year’s runners’ up team.

Bengal Tigers have picked up Morne Morkel, Aamir Yamin, Mohammed Nabi, Kusal Perera, Sherfane Rutherford, Kevon Cooper, Dan Christian, Ali Khan and Rayad Emrit from the draft while Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Asif Ali have previously been selected by the team.

Maratha Arabians, led by the Afghan sensation Rashid Khan, have picked up Alex Hales, Kamran Akmal, James Faulkner, Lasith Malinga, James Vince, Liam Livingstone, Brendan Taylor, Adam Lyth, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Najibullah Zadran and Richard Gleeson.

Pakhtoon team picked up Liam Dawson, Mohammed Irfan, David Willy, Colin Munroe, Andre Fletcher, Sohail Khan, Sharfuddin Ashraf, Chadwick Walton, Shahpur Zadran, Cameron Delport and Gulbadin Naib while team Rajputs chose Mohammed Hafeez, Rilee Rossouw, Mohammed Shahzad, Tymal Mills, Carlos Brathwaite, Rahat Ali, Samit Patel, Qais Ahmad, Ben Dunks, Peter Trego and Shan Masood.

Among the newcomers, the Karachians picked up Jofra Archer, Thisara Perera, Ben Cutting, Muhammad Nawaz, David Malan, Fawad Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Joe Clarke, Samiullah Shenwari and Muhammed Irfan Jr.

Another newcomer, Northern Warriors chose Ravi Bopara, Rovman Powell, Harry Gurney, Chris Green, Obed McCoy, Lendl Simmons, Kharry Pierre and Kennar Lewis from the draft to be added to Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran.

T10 League, the world’s first 10-over international professional cricket league that has been sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), was born in the UAE in 2017.

The event takes place at the backdrop of the recent recognition by the International Cricket Council (ICC) the global governing body of cricket – that makes it the world’s first official ten-over format league.

Welcoming the pool of international cricketers, Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman of the T10 League, said, “The Players’ Draft has been an out and out success, with a wider participation of players from all over the world. In addition to the reputed senior star cricketers, the draft also witnessed bids for some of the most sought-after young players who have great potential to contribute to the game of cricket.

“The participation of cricketing legends Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Darren Sammy, Daniel Vettori, Stephen Flemming, Robin Singh and Dean Jones were added attraction that reflects the growing popularity and acceptance of the ten-over format cricket.

“The team owners are happy with their selection of players and we are looking forward to an exciting star-studded tournament in November and December this year.”

T10 League was launched last year by T10 Sports Management to popularise the game of cricket in its shortest format – that concludes within less than 90 minutes in which two teams bat it out in ten overs – or just 60 balls – thrilling the crowd.

Preparation for the Second Season of the T10 League started following the runaway success with sold-out stadium during all the four days of the first Season that drew full-gallery crowd at the

Sharjah Cricket Stadium and watched by cheering fans across the GCC, South Asia and parts of the African continent where cricket is a popular sport.

A number of Bollywood and Lollywood celebrities from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will add the festive flavour to the ten-day tournament to be watched live in more than 20 countries across the world.

Parvez Khan, Board Member of the T10 League, said, “The successful Players Draft will set the ball rolling for the ten-day explosive tournament that will set new records in the ten-over format. The team coaches will now plan their strategies and winning formula to strengthen their chances.

“This year, we are expecting cricket fans travelling to the UAE to watch the tournament and this way, the T10 League will reinforce the UAE’s position as a sporting hub in the Middle East.”

The T10 League is live telecast in the GCC, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and the United States – followed by millions of fans – watching the actions of some of the most popular cricket stars, such as Shane Watson, Shahid Afridi, Eoin Morgan, Rasheed Khan, Shoeb Malik, Sunil Narine, Darren Sammy, among many others.

Group A	Group B
Kerala Kings	Punjabi Legends
Karachians	Bengal Tigers
Pakhtoon	Maratha Arabians
Rajputs	Northern Warriors