The Abu Dhabi T10 match is ready to run from November 7 to November 20, 2026. It is a match formally owned and managed by the Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub (ADCSH) below the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and Emirates Cricket Board. Ahead of the match, Royal Desert Champions has named Nicholas Pooran as the captain and Icon participant.
The franchise Royal Desert Champions was founded by businessman and former banker Amit Narang. Narang has over 17 years of expertise working with main international banks in India and the UAE. He has additionally built a profitable fintech in the UAE. His workforce will make a debut in the forthcoming season of the match, with Robin Singh as the workforce director.
Nicholas Pooran named as captain and Icon participant for Royal Desert Champions
Nicholas Pooran has retired from international cricket and only options in franchise leagues internationally. He has a wealth of expertise 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 Nationwide Cricket Staff and different franchise groups as well in various leagues. Pooran will bring all his leadership and expertise to the new franchise and help them grow as a workforce as they enter their first version.
Within 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 main TKR via their 2026 campaign. He additionally leads MI New York and MI Emirates in the MLC and the ILT20, respectively.
Nicholas Pooran’s file as captain
Pooran has only gained 16 of 33 CPL games as captain, with 16 losses. For MI New York has 14 wins and 13 losses in 27 MLC games relationship again to the match’s 2023 version. Below his leadership, MI New York gained the inaugural MLC title in 2023, then repeated the identical last 12 months.
He additionally led the Trinbago Knight Riders to a comprehensive CPL 2025 championship victory. The previous West Indies batter was additionally the vice-captain of IPL facet 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 following season. Will probably be interesting to see whether or not LSG palms Pooran the captaincy.
Phil Salt added to the Royal Desert Champions squad
Apart from Nicholas Pooran, the Royal Desert Champions have additionally signed Phil Salt and Sherfane Rutherford as Platinum direct Signings. These two stars are additionally very skilled in franchise cricket. The franchise will probably be hoping that the gamers they’ve signed to this point perform in the match and that they can get the most effective ends in the competition.
Salt performed for the UAE Bulls during the late 2025 Abu Dhabi T10 League season, where he delivered a number of explosive batting performances. Whereas Rutherford performed for the Aspin Stallions in the 2025/26, beforehand in 2024 he made history in the Abu Dhabi T10 by changing into the first participant to score a century in the match’s history, playing for the Northern Warriors.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
