QCA announces new T10 cricket league, Shahid Afridi joins as brand ambassador
Cricket lovers in Qatar are in for another massive treat as the president of the Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) has announced the Qatar Premier T10 Cricket League (QPL) to be played in the country with 4 to 6 teams this year.
“I would like to announce that the Qatar Cricket Association will be organizing a T10 professional league competition towards the end of this year,” Al Kuwari is quoted to have said by the Gulf Times.
The tournament will tentatively take place from November to December this year.
According to the QCA president, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has already granted its approval for the tournament. He further mentioned that as many as eight professional international players and three domestic players will participate in the thrilling sporting event.
“It will be a great opportunity for Qatar players to play alongside and against some of these experienced international players, which in turn will help them and us to take the players to get to the next stage,” Al Kuwari added.
Former Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, better known as Boom Boom Afridi, has been taken on board as brand ambassador for QPL.
The much-admired cricket star confirmed the news on his Twitter handle.
I want to express deepest gratitude to The Qatar Olympic Committee President @JoaanBinHamad & Mr Yousef Al Kuwari for announcing QPL T10 Cricket League.With your support&as a Brand Ambassador,we can make this a mega event which will not only promote cricket but also tourism in?? pic.twitter.com/HvVe2M5yjz
— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) July 28, 2019
Al Kuwari further said the approvals and the first few baby steps have been taken, and the hard work to host a successful tournament will commence now.
“Frankly speaking, it will be challenging. The first season especially will be difficult and not everything will be smooth running but this is the time to build trust among all stakeholders for the future,” he said.
Additionally, the QCA president called this a highly promising opportunity in a bid to step up the game of cricket in Qatar.
Given the Qatar national team’s recent exploits, he said, “We have a lot of talent, not only in the national team but also at under-19 and under-16 levels. The potential is huge but we need to facilitate and help them rise to the international level.”
“For the new league, we would like to choose players with [the] potential to play alongside the more experienced international names, because we also hope to build teams of the future,” he said.
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Source: Gulf Times
Finally cricket coming to another gulf country in style. T10 is the ideal format for the lover of the game due to its shorter duration. Can't wait to see history in making.