Zaheer, Munaf to play T10 League

Former pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar are among a few well-known Indian cricketers picked to play for respective franchises in the upcoming T10 League in the UAE.

Bengal Tigers picked up Zaheer while Punjabi Legends opted for Praveen at a draw for eight Indian cricketers. The T10 League that takes place at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from November 21 to December 2.

S Badrinath will play for Maratha Arabians while last year's champions Kerala Kings have picked Reetinder Singh Sodhi to brighten their chances.

Pakhtoons selected R P Singh while Rajputs picked up Munaf at the draw. Newcomers Karachians picked up Pravin Tambe, while Northern Warriors have opted for Amitoze Singh.

Zaheer Khan, who took 311 wickets in Test cricket, 282 in one-day internationals and 17 T20 wickets in a career spanning 14 years, leads the pack among Indian players.

Shaji Ul Mulk, chairman of T10 League, said, "The inclusion of some of the most prominent Indian cricketers in the T10 League, will help us to popularise the ten-over format cricket that concludes in 90 minutes.

"The forthcoming T10 League will demonstrate the games growing popularity and I am happy to see the way things are progressing so far.

"From a four-day event, the T10 League will now run for 12 days that will attract a larger audience at the stadium and beyond through the television channels."

T10 League, the world's first 10-over international professional cricket league that is licensed by Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), has recently appointed Sony Pictures Networks as its broadcast partners for South Asia, Middle East and North Africa for three years.

The 2018 edition will have 29 matches as compared to a four-day event last year.

Eight teams -- Kerala Kings, Punjab Legends, Maratha Arabians, Bengal Tigers, The Karachians, Rajputs, Northern Warriors and Pakhtoons -- have been drawn into two groups to fight it out in the second season.