HYDERABAD: The upcoming United Arab Emirates-based T10 Cricket League (TCL) has Hyderabad’s Heera Group as title sponsor.
The newest franchise based short form cricket league launches later this month featuring 90-minute contests lasting 10-overs-a-side. The tournament wil run for four days from 14-17 December.
TCL unveiled Heera Group as title partner at the Ramoji Film City here as part of the Indywood Film Festival at the film city on Saturday night. The launch also saw the attendance of representatives of the franchises and former WWE star The Great Khali.
Six franchises – Punjabi Legends, Pakhtoons, Maratha Arabians, Bengal Tigers, Team Sri Lanka Cricket, and Kerala Kings – based entirely on the South Asian region with their icon players will be seen in action during the tournament.
Among the icon players for the tournament are former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, former Pakistan captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag, current England ODI and T20I captain Eoin Morgan, apart from Bangladesh’s talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
Dr Nowhera Shaik, founder & CEO Heera Group, noted, “As a business group we have always backed innovative ideas. That has been a hallmark of our approach to business. So when this concept came along, I was keen that we get associated with it, as we ourselves come from the land where cricket is followed passionately.”
“Since the advent of Twenty20 cricket, I always felt that there could be something else that our sport can offer the world. It was then that I sat down to discuss with my team. We came up with the thought that cricket needs to match the best sporting action in the world. Most of these sports last no more than 90 minutes.
“We need to evolve with times and nothing should signify this better than giving a product to the fans that they can relate with. So here we are after months of planning to finally unveil to the world, our dream (TCL),” added Mulk, also the chairman of TCL and a member of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).
The tournament is being staged under the aegis of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), the home board in the country. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also given official sanction for the event.
The tournament will not just be about entertainment on the field. There are a whole host of entertaining activities planned for fans who will walk in through the gate during the four-day extravaganza.
A massive themed opening ceremony has been planned with a grand entrance for each squad. Performances by Indian film stars, players and dancers will be a standard affair and light shows will add to the visual flavour of the launch, an official release states.
