The player draft for the Abu Dhabi T10 League was held yesterday (23rd) in Dubai. Seven Sri Lankan cricketers were snapped up by several franchises in the draft while another five Sri Lankan cricketers were picked by the franchises as icon players and retained players ahead of the player draft. Altogether, twelve Sri Lankans will feature in the fourth edition of Abu Dhabi T10 League which will run from 28th January to 06th February at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Read – Four Sri Lankans signed up for Abu Dhabi T10 League
All the stakeholders involved in Abu Dhabi T10 League witnessed an exciting evening yesterday as some of the superstars in franchise cricket were drafted by the eight franchises. Before coming into the draft, all eight teams had announced their icon players and retained players thus it was a case of filling their vacant slots in the teams in order to get their combinations right.
Ahead of the draft, two Sri Lankan cricketers namely Isuru Udana and Thisara Perera had already been picked as icon players by Bangla Tigers and Pune Devils respectively. In addition, left-handed stroke maker Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Deccan Gladiators), speedster Dushmantha Chameera (Delhi Bulls) and opening batsman Avishka Fernando (Team Abu Dhabi) were retained by their respective franchises before going into the draft.
Read More – Performances of LPL 2020
In the players’ draft, the management of Delhi Bulls led by former England head coach Andy Flower drafted hard-hitting batsman Dasun Shanaka as their first pick of the day. Sri Lanka’s leg spin sensation Wanindu Hasaranga, who won the man of the series award in the recently concluded inaugural Lanka Premier League, was the first pick of the draft for Deccan Gladiators.
The Gladiators also added Sri Lanka’s speedster Lahiru Kumara to their team in order to bolster the pace attack. Nuwan Pradeep, one of Sri Lanka’s premier fast bowlers in white ball cricket was drafted by Northern Warriors while the 20-year old mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana who bowls like former Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis was picked by the Northern Warriors.
Interestingly, former Sri Lankan cricketers Chamara Kapugedara and Ajantha Mendis who retired from international cricket last year were picked by Pune Devils.
The eight franchises namely Maratha Arabians, Northern Warriors, Deccan Gladiators, Pune Devils, Team Abu Dhabi, Bangla Tigers, Qalandars and Delhi Bulls will be divided into two groups. Each of the four teams will play three games in the group stage and will be followed by a super league stage in order to determine the top two qualifiers. The third and fourth ranked teams will play in the eliminator.
A total of 29 matches will be played within 10 days’ time. Maratha Arabians won the previous edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League held last year.
>> Lanka Premier League 2020 – Coverage Powered by My Cola <<
 at a hotel in Dubai. Seven Sri Lankan cricketers were snapped by several franchises in the draft. Another five Sri Lankan cricketers were already picked by the franchises as icon players and retained players ahead of the players’ draft.){kind=link}