Qalandars pick Afridi for T10 League

LAHORE: Two new teams — Qalandars and Bangla Tigers — will take part in this year’s T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

The latest team, Qalandars, was unveiled on Sunday, with Shahid Afridi signing on as the franchise’s icon player.

Qalandars have close links with their Pakistan Super League (PSL) namesake Lahore Qalandars, with the Pakistani businessman Fawad Rana serving as chairman of both teams. Rana had also invested in a franchise, Durban Qalandars, in the stillborn T20 Global League in South Africa, which later gave way to the Mzansi Super League (MSL).

Bangla Tigers, owned by Bangladeshi businessmen Yasin Chowdhury and Sirajuddin Alam, a former BCB director, were unveiled on Thursday.

The league had previously included a team named Bengal Tigers, but that team — owned by the India-based Danube Group — have since changed their name to Delhi Bulls. The erstwhile Sindhis franchise, meanwhile, have been rebranded following a takeover by the Indian businessman Gaurav Grover, and will now be called Deccan Gladiators.