T10 League - the world's largest 10-over cricketing extravaganza - takes off with a "BOLLY-FULL" inauguration ceremony

HH Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan inaugurated the 2nd Season of the T10 League – the UAE’s home-grown international cricket tournament at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium

His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and the Chairman of Emirates Cricket Board,  officially inaugurated the 2nd Season of the T10 League – the world’s largest formal ten-over international cricket tournament – at 4:00 pm at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, November 21, 2018.

The 90-minute-long colourful inauguration ceremony was attended by government officials, members of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), team owners and celebrities and will see live performances by 80 performers including some top Bollywood celebrities as well as a parade by eight participating teams. The parade was supported by more than 100 students of the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy in Dubai – that is grooming the future cricketing talents.

The inauguration ceremony saw live performance by celebrities including Sohail khan, Sonu Sood,Sana Khan, Daisy Shah, Urvashi Rautela, Nora Fatehi, Yashma Gill, Anoushay Abbasi, Momina Khan, Myra Sareen, Gizele Thakral, Mahek Chahal, Amir Ali, Karthik Aryan, Umair Jaiswal and Ayesha Umair, among many others.  

The 12-day international cricket league will see 128 international cricketers play in eight franchise teams – Kerala Knights, Punjabi Legends, Bengal Tigers, Maratha Arabians, Pakhtoons, Rajputs along with two newcomers – Sindhis and Northern Warriors – split in two groups in 29 matches spread over 12 days with a final match to decide the champions scheduled on December 2, 2018 – the UAE National Day.

T10 League is the world’s first and currently the only professional ten-over format international cricket league backed by the Emirates Cricket Board and sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), governing body of international cricket.

Shaji Ul Mulk, Chairman of T10 League, said “This is the world’s largest professional T10 League and the 2nd Season is three-times bigger than the first edition. This year, two more franchise teams have joined the league due to the success of the first edition that inspired us to expand the scope of the league in terms of spreading out the league to 29 matches to be played in 12 days" 

Colonel Arvinder Singh, Chief Operating Officer of the T10 League, said, “As a professional league, we have undertaken all necessary preparations and transparent system to keep the league clean, guided by the ICC rules and monitored by the ECB"