Dubai: The success of the World Indoor Cricket Federation World Cup in UAE last month has resulted in a huge spike in the number of clubs wanting to play in indoor tournaments. The fourth edition of United Premier League, set to begin from Friday (October 6), will hence see an expanded field of 10 teams instead of the existing six teams.
Speaking to Gulf News after announcing the latest edition of the tournament at Insportz, Rahul Tilani, the founder of the tournament, said: “We are delighted at the huge response for our tournament which has been well contested for the last three years. We have expanded our tournament to cater to the indoor World Cup fever that is prevailing at Insportz. We have decided to stage our tournament at the same World Cup venue.”
The organisers also got huge backing from many sponsors with Danube Group, which has always supported indoor cricket, stepping in as main sponsor of the tournament. Anis Sajan, Managing Director of Danube who was recently the mentor of India indoor team in the World Cup, said: “I have always backed indoor cricket and indoor cricketers and when a bunch of youngsters wanted to stage such a tournament, I stepped in as usual to provide all support. This is one tournament which has a mix of ‘A’ Division to ‘G’ Division players and hence no team is favourite and every team has a chance to win the coveted trophy.”
UAE indoor national team skipper Saqib Nazir said: “This is a tournament in which anyone who loves indoor cricket and want to try their hand can come out and play as majority of the players in this event are amateurs.”
The other sponsors are 106.2 BIG FM, Noble Insurance Brokers, ZEE TV, ZEE Cinema, Soundkraft, Jeema, Blocks Real Estate, Art beat Production, Club Sensation, CMS Printing Press, Digital World and Limitless Ideas. The new team’s joining this season are Alam Strikers, JayB Stars, Supreme Superkings, and TMT Royals. They will join Athena Warriors, Khiara Knights, Raas Panthers, Sun City Gladiators, Unomat Chargers, and You Got Flipped Titans who have been contesting in this tournament.
All 10 teams will play one another in a league format before an IPL-style knockout phase. The final will be held on November 10.
