T20 league announced by Emirates Cricket Board

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) has announced to launch a six-team T20 league with an Indian Premier League (IPL) style. It is expected to be scheduled to be held in December to January 2021-2022.

The general secretary of the ECB, Mubashir Usmani, has revealed that there were many interests were shown to the newly structured league, especially from India where few IPL teams, Bollywood stars and businessmen.

Mubashir Usmani has stated that the salary caps for the players will be high and will finalize with the six franchises initially with the stakeholders within a month.

“That is our plan. We will complete the whole process of ownership in a month and then sit with them and decide the modalities of the tournament. It will be done in consultation with the owners but the plan is to match it with the best of the leagues in the world, if not the IPL standards.”

The ECB said that they wanted their T20 League to be as similar as other T20 Leagues in the world, being franchised based which will attract international stars from around the world. Their modalities of the league will be finalized later in due time.

Selection committee chairman of the ECB Dr Tayeb Kamali also gave his comments on the announcement of the new league being structured.

“We are delighted with the launch of our own T20 League, one we believe will enhance the growth and popularity of cricket being played in the UAE. We also envisage that UAE-based players will continue to flourish through such opportunities as they continue to make their mark on the international stage.”

Likely grounds for UAE T20 League

It is understood that all of their three grounds of UAE – Dubai Sports Club (DSC), Sheikh Zayed Stadium Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Stadium – will hold the tournament.

UAE has been hosting international matches for a long, long time. It even served as Pakistan’s home from 2010 until 2019 as well as two IPL editions in 2014 and 2020.

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