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Bangla Tigers could be the dark horses at Abu Dhabi T10

Dubai - The new franchise have picked a strong line-up that the owner believes can punch above their weight

With a little less than a fortnight left for the third season of the rebranded Abu Dhabi T10 League, the owner of the new franchise Bangla Tigers, believes that they could be the dark horses of the tournament.
The world's first and only 10-over format cricket league takes place from November 14 to 24 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in the UAE capital and owner Yasin Chowdhury felt that they have a team that can punch above their weight.
"We have given our optimum effort to pick the best team," Chowdhury said at a team launch event in Dubai on Thursday.
"As you can see, it is a well-balanced side. If you compare to the other teams in the tournament, you will see that there are no retired players. We picked up players who are currently playing good cricket around the globe," he added.
To Bangla Tigers' credit, they do have a strong line-up with the likes of South Africans Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram and David Wiese, West Indian Andre Fletcher, England's Liam Plunkett and Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera, who is their Icon Player.
"From the UAE, we have picked up Chirag Suri, who is one the very talented players. So, we feel that the team combination is strong," felt Chowdhury.
Chowdhury said a decision on who would captain the team will be taken once the squad assembles in the UAE, ahead of the competition.
Pakistan cricketers and a host of top Bangladesh players are missing from the list and Chowdhury put that down to various issues like the non-approval of NOCs as well as Bangladesh's tour of India, which coincides with the event.
"The situation is not in our favour. It is very unfortunate because I had spoken to some of the top Bangladesh players and they were all interested. But the T10 coincides with Bangladesh's tour of India. We were keen on seven Bangladeshi players but some were picked for the India tour. I hope that next year we have a lot of Bangladeshi players," he said.
Meanwhile, as far as the coaching staff is concerned, Chowdhury hasn't chased any big name and has made a brave punt on former international Aftab Ahmed, who is famous for that six off Jason Gillespie, which sealed an historic win for Bangladesh against Australia in Cardiff in 2005.
"I know everyone were looking for high profile coaches or managers. But my opinion is a bit different. Aftab Ahmed is the coach and is a former international. He has a lot of experience in coaching. The manager Nafees Iqbal is the elder brother of Tamim Iqbal and is also former international. He is a thorough professional and he has worked with the Mumbai Indians as well," he revealed.
james@khaleejtimes.com