KCL season III to begin from Dec 14

Officials and team representatives during the Press conference to announce details of the Kerala Cricket League season three.

Dubai: The third edition of Kerala Cricket League Twenty20 tournament is all set to start on December 14 at Fair Grounds Oval, Academic City.

Ghazi Almadani, Manager of Sports Tourism at Dubai Sports Council, while addressing a Press conference on Friday said: “It is one of the best cricket tournaments in the UAE and I feel myself privileged to be part of this project. I attended some of the matches last year and I will be there to watch competitive cricket at Academic City this time around.” Almadani added: “We are going to start ranking system in Dubai and I hope this tournament will be ranked among the top sports events. While deciding the ranking we have to keep many factors in mind.”

“I hope this tournament will serve as springboard for cricketing talent in the UAE which will go a long way to popularise the game in the region,” Almadani concluded.

Anil Kumar of Willows Sports Activities Management UAE, said: “We thank Ghazi Almadni for his presence here and it is only being possible with the support of Dubai Sports Council. “We hope to provide people with a quality tournament and it will go a long to nurture the talent in the UAE. We want to promote healthy activities in the UAE.”

Abdul Kalam of the KCL said: “We are flabbergasted by the overwhelming support from 16 teams’ owners and sponsors to the league. The large presence of media and cricket enthusiasts here today shows this tournament is going to be a huge success. We are ready for competitive cricket in Dubai.

“We are looking forward to another successful cricketing gala in Dubai.” According to the tournament rules the playing XI must have seven Kerala players. Teams can field as many non-Keralite players as they want in their 16-member squads. In the celebrity-packed KCL, 16 teams will battle it out in league matches, with the group winners and runners up to play quarterfinals. It will be followed by semifinals and final.

The winner of the KCL will take home a gold trophy and cash prize of Dh70,000. The runners-up will be awarded with a silver trophy and Dh40,000. Two second runners-up teams will get Dh15,000 each in a newly introduced prize this year. Other cash awards include man-of-the-series Dh5,000; best batsman 2,000; best bowler Dh2,000 and man-of-the-match from all 31 matches Dh500. There will be other prizes, trophies and certificates in different categories.

liaqat@khaleejtimes.com