GMR Group Gets Franchise in UAE’S new T20 League

GMR Group, an Indian infrastructure giant, has acquired the rights to own and administer the Dubai franchise in the UAE T20 League, which will be staged in the UAE.

The six-team league, which was announced earlier this year, is still on pace to be contested in 2022, with top committee members encouraged by the great interest exhibited by several high-profile people and well-established corporates from across the world.

“UAE continues to impress with its progressive, positive mindset toward sport and the business of sport, and we believe these traits align well with our group strategy to support sports from grass-roots to international level while being effective in engaging with the community,” said G.M. Rao, Group Chairman at GMR Group. Our organization is certain that the proposed structure and preparations for the UAE T20 League would capitalize on the UAE’s distinctive characteristics.”

“Our team has 14-seasons’ experience in managing the franchise process, through our Delhi Capital team’s involvement in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and we will integrate the same elements of these processes into UAE T20 League and help establish it as a premier and an integral part of the global cricket ecosystem.”  

Khalid Al Zarooni, Vice-Chairman at Emirates Cricket Board said; “UAE T20 League considers itself very fortunate to have engaged in a series of very meaningful discussions with various potential stakeholders interested in investing in our League. These discussions have proven very rewarding culminating in us being extremely honored to welcome GMR Group as our partner. The standing of this League, across the cricketing world, is vitally important to us, and we have aligned ourselves with partners that share the same values toward the game; holding its spirit, integrity, and longevity to the highest regard.”

Mubashshir Usmani, General Secretary at Emirates Cricket Board said; “As an ICC Associate Member Emirates Cricket is cognisant of the need to compete against ICC Full Members to further develop player skills and match performance. At its heart, the UAE T20 League will provide this opportunity for players within the Associate structure to play alongside world-class Internationals and be provided with a much-needed opportunity to showcase their skills to a wider audience. We are confident this League will quickly establish itself as one of our pioneering events and will shape cricket to new heights.”

Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Corporate Chairman at GMR Group said; “UAE, has a world-class niche of cross-cultural individuals with a big cricket fan following and excellent cricket infrastructure. We, at GMR Group based on our years of experience in the IPL, will harness to create a thriving cricket environment for budding players which will infinitely excite cricket aficionados. From our solid supportive management, we will bring best practices, processes, top-notched coaches, players, and support staff to have an unparalleled professional team. That said, we will need your love and support all throughout the first season of this league as we solidify a high-caliber Dubai Franchise team.”

ABOUT THE UAE T20 LEAGUE:

The UAE T20 League is a professional franchise-based T20 format cricket tournament established in 2020 that combines two of the most compelling aspects of the global sport – world-class infrastructure coupled with the most favorable time zone catering to cricket fans around the world.

ABOUT GMR SPORTS:

GMR Sports is part of GMR Group, a leading global infrastructure conglomerate headquartered in New Delhi, India with other office presence across the globe. GMR Sports was incorporated in 2008 with the aim to promote sports amongst youth, connect with the community at large and build a supporting ecosystem. Over the last 13 years since its inception, the company has done pioneering work in growing popular sports such as Cricket and other indigenous sports like Kabaddi and Wrestling across India and overseas. With a vision to nurture talent at the grass-root level, it has invested in providing access to professional sports by setting up Sports Training Academies across India. GMR Sports co-owns Delhi Capitals, a franchise cricket team that represents the city of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It also owns U.P. Yoddha, a franchise team representing the state of Uttar Pradesh in the Pro Kabaddi League. In continuation of its commitment to promote sports, especially cricket, on a global scale, GMR Sports is privileged to be associated with the Dubai franchise of the soon-to-be-launched U.A.E. T20 Cricket League.