UAE T20 League: Emirates Cricket Board announces IPL style T20 League, big Bollywood stars to buy teams

UAE T20 League: Emirates Cricket Board announces IPL style T20 League, big Bollywood stars to buy teams: The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) was the host of 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) last year – but now they have decided to launch their own IPL style league starting this December. Like all other successful global league models, the T20 league in the UAE will be franchise based which will attract top international cricketers and big businessman and Bollywood stars as team owners.

The League according to the announcement has been sanctioned by ECB chairman Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Tolerance and Coexistence. Sheikh Nahyan is an avid cricket follower and played a huge role in bringing and hosting the IPL in the UAE last year.

“The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is pleased to announce that UAE’s own exclusive T20 League has been sanctioned by ECB chairman Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan to Dubai Sports City and will soon be held in the UAE. The dates being considered are December 2021 and January 2022,” the ECB said in a statement.


UAE T20 League to have six franchises in the inaugural edition

The ECB said that the UAE’s league will follow the same blueprint of successful franchise leagues around the world like the IPL, Pakistan Super League (PSL), Australian Big Bash (BBL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and many others. The modalities of the league are still being worked out, the ECB said. The ECB plans to have six franchises initially and will finalise the stakeholders within a month.


“We will complete the process of ownership with-in a month”, confirmed ECB official.

“We see this League as another premier addition to our growing tournament calendar,” ECB vice chairman Khalid Al Zarooni, who is also a board member of the Asian Cricket Council, said.

“Emirates Cricket, and the UAE, has a proven history of identifying and embracing initiatives that underpin the success of the game, as well as encourage and develop home-grown talent,” he added

It is worth noting that a couple of years ago, the Emirates board had come close to starting the tournament involving four IPL franchises – Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings and one other Indian franchise – but after BCCI’s strong objection the project was derailed. But ECB with the blessings of the local authorities is now ready to role their own venture.