Emirates Cricket Board set to launch new T20 league in January 2022

T20 has emerged as a fan-favourite format in the past few years and the contest as the game doesn’t tend to slow down at any phase. Owing to the same, several cricket board are running T20 leagues with prominent players participating in them. In fact, a major part of the cricket calendar is dominated by competitions like IPL, BBL, CPL, T20 Blast, and PSL.

Joining the bandwagon, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) have announced a new T20 league named Premier League T20. The inaugural edition of this competition will get underway on January 2022. Six teams are set to participate in the league and it would be interesting to see how it unfolds. Some of the big names are expected to participate in the Premier League T20 alongside several local players.

Some reports suggest that the tournament is likely to offer salaries to compete with any of the major T20 leagues, possibly with the involvement of Indian Premier League owners. As per Dr. Tayab Kamali, the ECB’s selection committee chairman, the regular happening of high-profile cricket competitions in the country will only serve to benefit UAE cricketers.

UAE now has a series of cricket tournaments involving all major formats: Dr. Tayab Kamali

“With PLT20, we are delighted that the UAE now has a series of cricket tournaments involving all major formats that will bring together the best of international players alongside national players,” Thenationalnews.com quoted Dr. Tayab Kamali as saying.

Notably, it has been a while since ECB is planning to introduce their T20 league. A competition known as “UAE T20x” came to the picture in 2018 where T20 talismans like Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell were set to feature. However, the league couldn’t go as per plans with only two of the five franchises sold.

Revising their plans and policies, the cricket board discussed the launching of another competition in early 2020. However, the emergence of the COVID-19 virus spoiled that plan as well. The plans are even more advanced now as ECB would be hoping for the smooth conduct of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the cricket calendar in UAE will be packed in the coming months. The remaining Indian Premier League (IPL) season is scheduled to take place in UAE in September-October. Days after IPL’s conclusion, the high-voltage T20 World Cup will get underway in the nation. The tournament will be followed by Abu Dhabi T10 League. Hence, fans must mark their calendars.

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