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Brandon Moyo
OVER a year after retiring, former Chevrons and England international batter Gary Ballance will return to his birth country, Zimbabwe, for the second edition of the Zim Afro T10 tournament which is pencilled for September 21.
Ballance was picked by Durban Wolves during the player auction that was held on Sunday evening. This will be Ballance’s debut appearance in the 10-over format that was first played last year at Harare Sports Club.
Ballance — who had become a fan favourite in the three months that he played for Zimbabwe — was on Category A (Zimbabwean players) and is one of the six Zimbabwean players that were picked by the Moin Khan coached Durban Wolves side. The other five local players picked by Khan and his team are Regis Chakabva, Tinotenda Maposa, Donald Tiripano, Innocent Kaia, and Emmanuel Bawa.
With Ballance’s move coming as a shock, one of the headlining buys for this year’s edition of the T10 league is former Australian opener, David Warner.
Warner was picked as an icon signing by Bulawayo Braves Jaguars prior to Sunday’s draft. He was signed alongside the hard-hitting former West Indies star, Carlos Brathwaite. The other icon players signed by other franchises are Jimmy Neesham (Harare Bolts), David Willey (Cape Town Samp Army), Mark Chapman (Durban Wolves), Kusal Perera (Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers) and Thisara Perera (NYS Lagos).
Dasun Shanaka, Haider Ali, Colin Munro, Chris Lynn and Blessing Muzarabani were signed by Harare Bolts, Cape Town Samp Army, Durban Wolves, Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers and NYS Lagos as global superstars respectively.
The league is a partnership between Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) and T Ten Global Sports with Zim Cyber City as the partner. The forthcoming tournament is the first leg with US Masters T10, Abu Dhabi T10, and Lanka T10 taking place in November and December.
Speaking during the player auction, T Ten Global Sports founding chairman Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk said they are looking forward to yet another exhilarating tournament. He said Zimbabwe’s Full Member status plays a huge role in helping the game grow.
He also commended the viewership and support that they got on their first season last year.
“We are here to also celebrate season two of the Zim Afro T10 league. The league, on its own, is significant because it’s one of the two full member board countries that have adopted the T10 format. That is significant because in the world of cricket, the full member boards are the ones that drive the cricketing fraternity, the passion for cricket and the following.
“This gives us confidence, to truly grow on a global scale and our viewership for the first season was 64 million just on television and that combined with all the leagues that we are doing, we were close to 400 million last year on television plus OTT.
We had two and a half billion on social media and more than 440 million on YouTube impressions. That shows how fast the T10 format or the league is growing and I take this opportunity to thank my franchises. Some of you are solid pillars of the T10 format, owning and supporting the league from the beginning.
“On season one we had tremendous support from His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, ZC chairman Dr. Mukuhlani, Managing Director Givemore Makoni and the Minister of Sport Kirsty Coventry. They were all very supportive and we are looking forward to another fantastic season,” said UI Mulk.
The six-team tournament will be played at Harare Sports Club and will run from September 21 to 29.
Online Reporter