Abu Dhabi T10: From fears of staying relevant to standing shoulder to shoulder with top T20 leagues | Cricket News

When the Abu Dhabi T10 commenced seven years ago, with a new format in place, in an already crowded franchise calendar, there were fears if it would stay relevant in the years to come. With already three formats in place, there was this all-important question if the game needed another format.From being a tournament that seemed like a destination for cricketers in their last legs, the T10 is now standing shoulder to shoulder with T20 leagues as well. Of course, there is the lure of riches, with franchises offering lucrative contracts, but few would disagree how far it has grown, even entering into a partnership with Sri Lanka Cricket to have a separate tournament of its own in the island nation.
As another edition of the T10 is being done and dusted, the alignment of stars signals that the format is growing despite concerns from the anti-corruption and security unit. Quinton de Kock, Rovman Powell, Naveen ul Haq, Fazalahaq Farooqi, David Miler, Carlos Brathwaite, James Neesham, Hazaratullah Zazaii, Colin Munro, Amzmatullah Omarzai, Tabraiz Shamsi, Nicholas Pooran, Trent Boult, Andrew Russell, Dan Lawrence, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Mohammad Amir, Odean Smith, Jason Roy, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Jason Holder, all the sort after T20 freelancers turned up this time too, just weeks after the World Cup concluded.

And then there were 2️⃣ 🙌#NYSvDG #ADT10 #CricketsFastestFormat #AbuDhabiT10 #InAbuDhabi️ pic.twitter.com/9zyOx3Ae6U
— T10 Global (@T10League) December 8, 2023
“In 10 years down the line, the T10 will probably be played a little bit more, especially if you are looking at the time. It takes an hour and a half, pretty quick, and a lot of action. It is starting to move into school’s cricket. It will be really beneficial to grow the skill of T20 cricket,” Faf du Plessis who featured for Samp Army tells The Indian Express.
One of the main reasons why the T10 attracts global stars is also down to how well the organisers have slotted the league. With the Big Bash League, SA20, ILT20, PSL and IPL all slotted for the next three six months, the T10 in many ways acts as a precursor to all these tournaments. Some of them even use the tournament to get into the T20 groove and that it also usually precedes the IPL auctions means, any good show in the tournament is bound to get noticed.
Last year, Pooran was a beneficiary as after Sunrisers Hyderabad released him, on the back of a very good T10 – where he was the player of the tournament – he was picked up Lucknow SuperGiants for Rs 16 crore.
“Lot of the guys say they don’t change their approach between T10 and T20. But for me it is entirely different. There’s a different template of how you play the game. I enjoy the growth that happens within your own game. You need to be a lot more open, take risks earlier in your innings. And I think that that itself helps you be a good student in T20 cricket because once you get used to this, you have a little bit more time to take in that,” Du Plessis says.
Moeen, another T20 globetrotter and also a teammate of Du Plessis at Samp Army and in the Jo’burg Super Kings at the SA20, believes given the short playing time it is hard to make an impact. “It’s very difficult. You need a lot of things to go your way when you are batting. But to get into the grooving, straightaway, it’s not always easy. As a batsman, if you are able to win a couple of games, then you have done your part,” Moeen says.

The English all-rounder believes the T10 is a lot more challenging than T20 as there is almost no space to get your eye in as a batsman to assess the conditions. “You have to be very sharp in this format. In this format every ball batsmen and bowler are coming after you. In T20s, there is a bit more time and stuff. Here there is absolutely no time to rebuild and straight away you have to get down to the business. So when you move to the T20s, it sort of helps.”
Du Plessis offers a slightly different take. “From a batting perspective, I think guys don’t feel that they are as much under pressure as in T20s, because you are expected to play to get runs anyway. But whatever your skill is, if you’re on top of your game, then it’s a good day at the office for you. If you are in there with four or five overs to go then you can do some damage,” he adds.