The Abu Dhabi T10 tournament is set to run from November 7 to November 20, 2026. It is a tournament officially owned and managed by the Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub (ADCSH) under the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Emirates Cricket Board. Ahead of the tournament, Royal Desert Champions has named Nicholas Pooran as the captain and Icon player.
The franchise Royal Desert Champions was founded by businessman and former banker Amit Narang. Narang has over 17 years of experience working with leading international banks in India and the UAE. He has also built a successful fintech in the UAE. His team will make a debut in the forthcoming season of the tournament, with Robin Singh as the team director.
Nicholas Pooran named as captain and Icon player for Royal Desert Champions
Nicholas Pooran has retired from international cricket and only features in franchise leagues across the world. He has a wealth of experience captaining the <a href="https://cricket.international/josephine-nkomo-to-captain-zimbabwe-in-six-match-white-ball-series-against-west-indies/" title="Josephine Nkomo to Captain Zimbabwe in Six-Match White-Ball Series Against West Indies“>West Indies National Cricket Team and other franchise teams as well in various leagues. Pooran will bring all his leadership and experience to the new franchise and help them grow as a team as they enter their first edition.
In the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Nicholas Pooran captains the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR), having taken over the captaincy from Kieron Pollard ahead of the 2025 season, and successfully continued leading TKR through their 2026 campaign. He also leads MI New York and MI Emirates in the MLC and the ILT20, respectively.
Nicholas Pooran’s record as captain
Pooran has only won 16 of 33 CPL games as captain, with 16 losses. For MI New York has 14 wins and 13 losses in 27 MLC games dating back to the tournament’s 2023 edition. Under his leadership, MI New York won the inaugural MLC title in 2023, then repeated the same last year.
He also led the Trinbago Knight Riders to a comprehensive CPL 2025 championship victory. The former West Indies batter was also the vice-captain of IPL side Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) last season, and for the upcoming season he has the interim captaincy as Rishabh Pant has been traded to Delhi Capitals ahead of the next season. It will be interesting to see whether LSG hands Pooran the captaincy.
Phil Salt added to the Royal Desert Champions squad
Apart from Nicholas Pooran, the Royal Desert Champions have also signed Phil Salt and Sherfane Rutherford as Platinum direct Signings. These two stars are also very experienced in franchise cricket. The franchise will be hoping that the players they have signed so far perform in the tournament and that they can get the best results in the competition.
Salt played for the UAE Bulls during the late 2025 Abu Dhabi T10 League season, where he delivered several explosive batting performances. While Rutherford played for the Aspin Stallions in the 2025/26, previously in 2024 he made history in the Abu Dhabi T10 by becoming the first player to score a century in the tournament’s history, playing for the Northern Warriors.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
