Gung-ho after the success of the first ever T10 league in the history of the game, Shaji Ul Mulk and his team are set to globally expand the new format after initial talks with the England Cricket Board (ECB) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
Shaji, the brain behind the 90-minute 'cricketainment', revealed that the format could could be staged in places like England, Saudi Arabia, the US and the Caribbean island. "We have had initial talks with the ECB and another round is scheduled for next month," he said at a media briefing held onboard a yacht in Dubai Marina on Wednesday.
"The intention is to take T10 worldwide. Make it global by working with a powerful board like the ECB," he said, adding that the inaugural T10 will continue at the Sharjah Stadium and globally it would be an independent league.
"We have also had talks with the WICB for staging T10 leagues in the US and the West Indies,' he revealed.
Talking about the participation of the Indian players in the T10 league, he said: "The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) does not allow their players to play in any foreign (T20) leagues and restricts them to IPL only," he pointed out.
The chairman of the T10 League was quick to add that the tournaments do run without the Indian players. "We made it (T10 league) successful without the Indian players," he boasted.
However, he conceded that the dialogues were an ongoing process with the BCCI for the inclusion of Indian players in the Heera T10 league, which has majority of owners from India. "If not for the next edition, we would hope that in future the Indian players would play in the tournament." Former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag, was the lone Indian player in the first T10 season held in December last year.
Parvez Khan, who owns a team and is on the governing board of the league, announced that the shortest format of the game will be expanded in the second edition. "It will be two and half times bigger," he claimed, explaining that two more franchises will be added and the four-day tournament will be held over 10 days in December.
"We had 13 matches last December but now will play 31 matches."
Dr Nowhera Shaik, Founder and CEO of Heera Group, pledged to continue sponsorship support for the T10. "We were very happy with the response for the inaugural T10 tournament," she enthused.
She also sounded optimistic about roping in Indian players in future. "We need to work together and meet BCCI officials to see how we can get more involvement of Indian players in this exciting new format," he reckons.
Mazhar Khan, the Emirates Cricket Board administrator, pointed out the enthusiastic response by the fans in the UAE to the 10-over format. " We had over 15,000 fans inside the Sharjah |Stadium and around 7,000 wiating outside," he said about the response.
"The crowd response proved that Sharjah is the venue for T10, and we look forward to hosting another league in December," said Mazhar, who also manages the CBFS-owned iconic Sharjah Stadium.
