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Wrong to judge new format so quickly, says Morgan

Sharjah - The League has drawn a number of top players from India, England, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Afghanistan, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, apart from the hosts UAE

Like any new project, there are bound to be a few teething problems and it does take a bit of time for things to take shape and fall in place.
And England's limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan felt that it would be wrong to make a judgement on cricket's newest format - T10 - so quickly. Morgan is one of marquee players to have given a massive endorsement to the T10 League which plays out at the historic Sharjah Cricket Stadium over the weekend. Six franchises - Bengal Tigers, Kerala Kings, Maratha Arabians, Pakhtoons, Punjabi Legends and Team Sri Lanka are taking part in the inaugural edition of the competition.
The League has drawn a number of top players from India, England, West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Afghanistan, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, apart from the hosts UAE.
But some stars like West Indian Chris Gayle, South Africa's AB de Villiers and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum are missing. Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara pulled out of the tournament because of personal reasons.
Morgan, who has plied his trade for various franchises like Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League, Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League and Sydney Thunder in the Australian Big Bash League, said that the T10 was the start of something exciting.
"It is the start of something new which I think excites everybody," said Morgan. "The concept of such a tournament that is started and finished within four days is unheard of in cricket. And I think if you were to play a tournament between 10 and 12 teams, you could probably finish it in 10 days. I think that makes it viable as an Olympic sport so, hopefully, the tournament will be a success and we will be able to take it all around the world and not just here in Sharjah. So, it is exciting to see how it goes," he added.
The 31-year-old said the League, being staged under the aegis of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and given official sanction by the International Cricket Council (ICC), has managed to draw some top quality players.
"I think you have a lot of high quality international cricketers. With the draft going the way it did, every team is full of international superstars. And as with how any league goes, it is important for those superstars to perform in order for the League to do well," he said. "Like I mentioned, this is the first year of it all happening. The first year of T20 cricket, you didn't have all the superstars and all the big names. You had normal, domestic cricketers and not necessarily even the international stars that were playing in England at that time. And that went on to be a success. So, it is very early days," Morgan added.
The turnaround times have been quick and that has meant that players haven't had much time to get to know each other. Morgan said that was the nature of the format was added it wasn't an obstacle.
"We have not had much time to gel. That's the essence of such a short tournament and I think talking to some of the founding members of the tournament, they are not just keen to have one a year, maybe take it around the world and go on from there. So, it is like any T20 tournament you play around the world. I've played with some of the guys in Barbados, Kolkata, different guys and I know them quite well," said Morgan.