Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) have announced the launch of the inaugural edition of franchise-based Premier League T20 event, set to take place in January-February 2021. The new 6-team league has been sanctioned by Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Emirates Cricket Board Chairman Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan.
While plans to launch a similar franchise-based event back in 2019 called “UAE T20X” failed to get going due to franchise teams remaining unsold and plans for 2020 launch getting postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic, the new announcement comes as a delight for UAE’s national squad members and other domestic players, who will be expected to play alongside global T20 circuit professionals.
The tournament logo was also unveiled by ECB at the launch announcement, the image of which accurately depicts what represents the UAE, the League and the core of its vision. The Board has announced that the squads will have maximum amount of overseas professionals representation for the event. The tournament will take place after the conclusion of Abu Dhabi T10 event, which is scheduled to start after the conclusion of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman during October/November 2021.
