Abu Dhabi T10 League: All you need to know

The Cricketer runs down the who, what, where, when, why and which channel you can catch it on ahead of the Abu Dhabi T10 League

What is it?

The fourth edition of the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

When is it?

The tournament begins on January 28 and comes to an end on February 6.

Where is it?

All 29 matches will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, as per the 2019 edition.

How many teams are there?

Eight teams are taking part: Team Abu Dhabi, Maratha Arabians, Bangla Tigers, Deccan Gladiators, Qalandars, Delhi Bulls, Northern Warriors and Pune Devils.

Maratha Arabians won the tournament in 2019, with West Indies batsman Chadwick Walton hitting a half century in the final against Deccan Gladiators.

Karnataka Tuskers have rebranded as Pune Devils for this year’s competition, which was initially due to take place in November 2020, before Covid-19 forced its rearrangement.

Abu Dhabi T10 League: Squad lists

What’s the format?

There are three phases involved, beginning with a round-robin group stage, which sees the eight teams split into two pools.

Bangla Tigers, Delhi Bulls, Maratha Arabians and Northern Warriors make up Group A.

Team Abu Dhabi, Deccan Gladiators, Qalandars and Pune Devils comprise Group B.

Following the group stage, all eight sides progress into the Super League, where teams from Group A play three matches each against teams from Group B.

The fixtures are weighted in favour of the teams that performed best in the group phase, so the winners of each group do not face one another. The same applies to the bottom-placed sides in the initial phase.

Finally, the playoffs begin. In an initial qualifier, the top two teams from the Super League go head-to-head, with the winner heading straight into the final. The loser, on the other hand, gets another chance to reach the final, taking on the winner of an eliminator game between the teams that finish third and fourth in the Super League.

You can find the full fixture list here.

^{Kieron Pollard is representing Deccan Gladiators}

Which players are involved?

Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Shoaib Malik, Isuru Udana, Shahid Afridi, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran and Thisara Perera were signed as icon players.

You can find full squad lists here.

Where can I watch the Abu Dhabi T10 League?

How can I follow it?

Sky Sports have exclusive rights in the UK to this year’s tournament.

In India, the competition will be available to watch on Sony SIX and Sony TEN 3. It will be streamed in India on SonyLIV.

Ten Sports will broadcast the games in Pakistan. In the USA and Canada, Willow TV has the broadcast rights, while Sports Max will show the competition in the Caribbean. SuperSport will show all games in South Africa. RTA Sport have the rights in Afghanistan.

AD Sports and Sony Max will televise the tournament in the MENA/UAE region, where the games are being played. T Sports are showing the tournament in Bangladesh and Vasantham TV in Sri Lanka.