Explained: Everything You Need to Know About Cricket’s T10 League

The Abu Dhabi T10 League is the only tournament in the format that has been officially sanctioned by the ICC.

(Photo: Abu Dhabi T10 League)

90 minutes to complete a match, 10 overs a side, 2 overs a bowler and cricket’s shortest format is the latest to pick up steam as the Abu Dhabi T10 League enters its fourth season this January.

From tournament-opener to title match, the T10 version of cricket can see one season comprising eight teams wrap up in just a matter of 10 days and it’s no surprise then that some of the sport’s stalwarts (read: veterans) are encouraging the idea of this format taking cricket back into the Olympic Games.

But, what is T10 cricket? How is it much different and how popular really is the T10 League?

The Quint expalins:

What's The Format?

The fourth season this year stretches from 28 January to 6 February, comprising 29 matches, and will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Much like last season, eight teams will play the tournament and have now been divided into two groups of four teams each.

Defending champions Maratha Arabians are slotted in Group A with Bangla Tigers, Delhi Bulls and Northern Warriors - the Champions of 2018 edition. Last year’s runners-up Deccan Gladiators are in Group B with Qalandars, Team Abu Dhabi and Pune Devils.

The teams will play three matches each in the group stage before heading into the Super League on February 1. A total of 12 matches in the group stage, followed by 12 more in the Super League, will give way to the playoffs from February 5.

The top two-ranked teams will take on each other in the Qualifier for a place in the final, while the third and fourth-ranked teams will be up against each other in Eliminator 1 on February 5. Thereafter the runner-up in the Qualifier will play against the winner of Eliminator 1 in Eliminator 2 for a place in the final on the same day.

How Are Rules Different

Think T20 cricket and divide everything by half. Well, mostly everything.

The T20 League is a 10-over a side tournament with a game lasting all of 90 minutes. Each bowler gets only 2 overs a match and Powerplay lasts 3 overs with a maximum of 2 players allowed outside the 30 yard circle. After the 3 overs, a maximum of 5 players are allowed outside the circle.

With just 60 deliveries an innings, there are no breaks during it while an innings break is 10 minutes.

But don’t think less overs equals fewer runs. During the 2019 season, the 29 matches had 5,989 runs scored with 800 boundaries and 259 wickets.

Any Indians Participating?

Yes, three of them. Veteran leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, right-arm medium fast bowler Ishan Malhotra and leg-spinner Prashant Gupta.

Since the league is not recognised by the BCCI, no ‘Indian cricketer’ can play in the tournament till they officially retire from international and domestic cricket.

In August 2020, Tambe had become the first Indian to play in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) where he played with Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR). He was subsequently released from his IPL contract for playing a league not cleared by the BCCI. The 49-year-old had made his IPL debut at the age of 41 in 2013 and played 33 matches in all, picking 28 wickets.

Spinner Ishan, picked by Arabians, played one match for the Deccan Chargers against Delhi Daredevils during IPL 2011. Gupta, picked by Deccan Gladiators, played domestic cricket for Uttar Pradesh and Railways from 2008 to 2019.

In the third edition played last year, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan both participated while S.Badrinath and Munaf Patel have also played the tournament before.

Who Is Playing This Season?

Team: Maratha Arabians

Icon player: Shoaib Malik

Team: Mohammad Hafeez, Laurie Evans, Mosaddek Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Pravin Tambe, Ishan Malhotra, Muktar Ali, Amjad Khan, Abdul Shakoor, Maroof Merchant, Sompal Kami, Syed Shah

Team: Bangla Tigers

Icon player: Isuru Udana

Team: Andre Fletcher, Tom Moores, Qais Ahmad, Chirag Suri, Johnson Charles, David Wiese, Mohammad Irfan, Afif Hossain, Adam Hose, Karim Janat, Aryan Lakra, Fazal Haque, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mahedi Hasan

Team: Delhi Bulls

Icon player: Dwayne Bravo

Team: Ali Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Dushmantha Chameera, Sherfane Rutherford, Evin Lewis, Dasun Shanaka, Adam Lyth, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Fidel Edwards, Shiraz Ahmed, Kashif Daud, Waqar Salamkheil, Nyeem Young, Amad Butt

Team: Northern Warriors

Icon player: Andre Russell

Team: Rayad Emrit, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Siddique, Rovman Powell, Fabian Allen, Nuwan Pradeep, Aamer Yamin, Brandon King, Waheed Ahmed, Maheesh Theekshana, Ansh Tandon

Team: Deccan Gladiators

Icon player : Sunil Narine

Team : Kieron Pollard, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Zahoor Khan, Colin Ingram, Mohammad Shahzad, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Azam Khan, Ravi Rampaul, Prashant Gupta, Zeeshan Zameer, Hamdan Tahir, Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Imran Tahir, Imtiyaz Ahmed

Team: Qalandars

Icon player: Shahid Afridi

Team: Samit Patel, Phil Salt, Chris Jordan, Sultan Ahmed, Tom Banton, Sohail Tanvir, Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Sohail Akhtar, Sharjeel Khan, Fayyaz Ahmed, Azmatullah Omarzai, Maaz Khan, Khurshid Anwar, Ben Dunk

Team: Team Abu Dhabi

Icon player: Chris Gayle

Team: Rohan Mustafa, Luke Wright, Avishka Fernando, Hayden Walsh Jr, Chris Morris, Usman Shinwari, Naveen-ul-Haq, Obed McCoy, Najibullah Zadran, Ben Cox, Palaniapan Meiyappan, Leonardo Julien, Kushal Malla, Alex Hales

Team: Pune Devils

Icon player: Thisara Pereira

Team: Mohammad Amir, Hardus Viljoen, Chamara Kapugedera, Sam Billings, Ajantha Mendis, Devon Thomas, Darwish Rasooli, Nasir Hossain, Kennar Lewis, Asif Khan, Mohammad Boota, Dinesh Kumar, Vriitya Aravind, Karan KC, Munis Ansari

What Time Are The Matches?

The first day of the season will see six teams in action with matches scheduled to be played at 5:30pm IST, 7:45pm IST and 10pm IST.

The group stage runs four days from 28 January to 31 January and then the second round, ‘Super League’ stretches from 1 February to 4 February.

The three playoff matches are on 5 February with the third-place match on 6 February at 6:45pm IST and the final at 9:30pm IST.