The two new T20 leagues which are the subject of much hype these days in the cricketing world are the CSA T20 league and the UAE International League T20 (ILT20). Out of the 12 teams that will feature in these two leagues, 11 are owned by the Indian corporates.
While the CSA T20 league has all the 6 teams owned by IPL franchises, only three teams in ILT20 are owned by IPL franchises, that is Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, and Kolkata Knight Riders. However, two more teams in ILT20 are owned by Indian corporates, Adani group and Capri Global, although those corporates don’t own an IPL team yet.
The only non-Indian corporate which is involved in UAE International League T20 is the Glazer family, who are also the current owners of Manchester United football club. It has been reported by Cricbuzz that the Glazer family are the only ones who are looking to offer contracts to the Pakistan cricketers to play in the UAE league.
The former Australian cricketer Tom Moody has already been appointed the director of cricket of the franchise owned by the Glazer family and they have reportedly even approached a couple of star Pakistan cricketers, including their captain Babar Azam.
Participation of Pakistan cricketers in UAE International League T20 (ILT20) depends on PCB’s NOCs
However, the participation of the Pakistan players in ILT20 depends on the approval of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). If PCB denies No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the Pakistan cricketers, they can’t sign contracts in ILT20, despite the fact that ILT20 will be offering them more than double the money that they get while playing in their domestic T20 league PSL.
The PCB is reportedly considering the approaches made to them for the availability of their players by the UAE league, but it’s clear now that that the organizing committee of the CSA league has not approached PCB for the services of any of their players yet.
