Shoaib, Pollard and UAE's Rohan among top catches at Abu Dhabi T10

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Shoaib, Pollard and UAEs Rohan among top catches at Abu Dhabi T10
Brain storming sessions and hotline phone calls was seen on each of the eight roundtables during the players' draft for the Abu Dhabi T10. - Photo by Ryan Lim

Abu Dhabi - Teams had three minutes to decide on which player to pick from the lot on the big screen.

By Ashwani Kumar

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Published: Wed 16 Oct 2019, 11:30 PM

Last updated: Thu 17 Oct 2019, 1:40 AM

Established names, prized catches, emerging players and some local names - the players' draft of Abu Dhabi T10 had a mix of everything. Team owners, technical support staff and icon players in fold made some value for money purchases.
Teams had three minutes to decide on which player to pick from the lot on the big screen. Brain storming sessions, hotline phone calls and stuff were seen on each of the eight roundtables till it lasted. Teams had option to pick an icon player for $60,000, three category 'A' players at $45,000, three category B players at $30,000, two category 'C' players at $20,000, two UAE residents at $10,000 and two emerging talent at $10,000.
The big names included Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Hafeez and more. The evening saw most teams striking a crucial balance between batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.
Team Abu Dhabi, the new entrants, started their new journey with Pakistan's left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir in their fold. Team Abu Dhabi added the UAE all-rounder Rohan Mustafa, English fast bowlers Harry Gurney and Lewis Gregory, Australian fast-medium Ben Laughlin, all-rounders Luke Wright and Corey Anderson, Sri Lankan keeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, Australian fast-medium Ben Laughlin among other names.
Another new team Bangla Tigers went for South Africans - southpaw Colin Ingram and hard hitting Rilee Rossouw, pacer Robert Frylinck, Australian gem James Faukner, West Indian wicketkeeper Andre Fletcher and the UAE talent Chirag Suri were some of the drafted players.
Meanwhile, reigning champions Northern Warriors had English batsman Sam Billings, West Indian batsman Lendl Simmons, Pakistan's prolific pacer Wahab Riaz, South African spinner Chris Green and West Indian all-rounder Rayad Emrit to boot.
Deccan Gladiators pocketed West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard, English fast bowler Tymal Mills, New Zealand batsman Anton Devcich, Afghan's Zahir Khan and Mohammad Shahzad were some of the interesting grabs.
Karnataka Tuskers were very shrewd with their picks. They started with Nepal's spin sensation Sandeep Lamichhane and then moved to English medium pacer Pat Brown. Team's icon Hashim Amla, who was right in the centre of discussions, drafted the likes of wicketkeeper-batsman Johnson Charles, youngsters Evin Lewis and Kesrick Williams - both batsmen from West Indies.
Delhi Bulls started off with the big name of Pakistan's former captain and all-rounder Shoaib Malik, followed by pace-spin combo of Sohail Tanvir and Adil Rashid. Afghan power Mohammad Nabi, Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kusal Perera, Pakistan's new pace sensation Mohammad Hasnain were among the smart pickings.
Yet another new team, Lahore Qalandars, notched Kiwi firepower Luke Ronchi, English bowler Chris Jordan and batsman Tom Banton, Pakistani stars Mohammad Hafeez, all-rounder Imad Wasim and pacer Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf.
Maratha Arabians snared Pakistan left arm pacer Mohammad Irfan, West Indian wicket-keeper batsman Chadwick Walton. Maratha Arabians also added pinch-hitter Dasun Shanaka and UAE's Shiraz Ahmed among other raising players. Team already has someone like Sri Lankan T20 expert Lasith Malinga and retained Dwayne Bravo.
Teams, at the end, looked contended with their catches. Now its 30-day of grinding on the pitches towards the sensational opening planned on November 14 and 10 days of pure cricketing action.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com


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