Abu Dhabi: Naseem Shah, Alex Hales, Muhammad Amir and Dasun Shanaka were among the leading selections in the 2026 Abu Dhabi T10 player draft, which brought international and UAE players into six franchise squads.
Naseem joined Royal Desert Champions, Hales was selected by Emirates Eagles, Amir went to UAE Bulls and Shanaka joined Yas Lions. Other prominent picks included Noor Ahmad for Emirates Eagles, Alzarri Joseph for Arabian Aces, Shadab Khan for UAE Bulls and Chris Jordan for Royal Desert Champions.
UAE players featured across the squads. Arabian Aces selected Alishan Sharafu and Vriitya Arvind, while Royal Desert Champions added Aayan Afzal Khan, Muhammad Waseem and Dhruv Parashar. Emirates Eagles picked Haider Razzaq, Luqman Faisal and Harshit Kaushik.
Muhammad Rohid and Wali Muhammad joined UAE Bulls, while Awais Ali Shah and Adithya Shetty went to United Tigers. Yas Lions selected Ansh Tandon and Haider Ali.
Arabian Aces added Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sam Billings and Imran Tahir to a squad whose pre-draft signings included Moeen Ali, Andre Russell and Liam Livingstone. Joseph, Richard Gleeson, Dwaine Pretorius and Dunith Wellalage were also selected.
Emirates Eagles brought in Hales, KS Bharat, Hassan Nawaz and Kusal Perera to strengthen their batting options. David Wiese and Chris Green joined as all-rounders, while Noor Ahmad, Rehan Ahmed and Ali Raza added bowling options. Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer and Trent Boult had signed before the draft.
Royal Desert Champions selected Naseem, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera and Jordan, alongside batters Waseem, Brandon King and Janith Liyanage. Gulbadin Naib and Keemo Paul added all-round options to a squad already featuring Nicholas Pooran, Phil Salt and Sherfane Rutherford.
UAE Bulls added Andre Fletcher, Aneurin Donald, Khwaja Nafay, Max Bryant and Azam Khan, alongside all-rounders Shadab and Khushdil Shah. Amir, Nuwan Thushara and Scotland’s Bradley Currie joined a bowling group that already included pre-draft signings Sunil Narine and Romario Shepherd. Kieron Pollard had also signed before the draft.
United Tigers selected Azmatullah Omarzai, Odean Smith and Mahedi Hasan, with Abbas Afridi and Sufyan Moqim adding bowling options. Their pre-draft signings were Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf.
Yas Lions added James Vince, Shanaka, Tom Moores and Akeal Hosein, along with bowlers Eshan Malinga and Obed McCoy. Netherlands spinner Aryan Dutt joined as their Associate Member selection. Jason Holder, David Willey and Andries Gous had signed before the draft.
The six squads are:
Arabian Aces: Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Liam Livingstone, Alishan Sharafu, Muhammad Arfan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Richard Gleeson, Sam Billings, Paul Walter, Alzarri Joseph, Imran Tahir, Salman Irshad, Quentin Sampson, Dwaine Pretorius, Vriitya Arvind, Ibrahim Masood, Amshi De Silva and Dunith Wellalage.
Emirates Eagles: Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult, Haider Razzaq, Luqman Faisal, David Wiese, Noor Ahmad, Alex Hales, KS Bharat, Akif Javed, Hassan Nawaz, Rehan Ahmed, Ali Raza, Chris Green, Harshit Kaushik, Hilal Afghan, Toby Albert and Kusal Perera.
Royal Desert Champions: Nicholas Pooran, Phil Salt, Sherfane Rutherford, Ali Naseer, Aayan Afzal Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Naseem Shah, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Luke Wood, Gulbadin Naib, Brandon King, Janith Liyanage, Keemo Paul, Dhruv Parashar, Raizal Nadir, Tajinder Singh Dhillon and Chris Jordan.
UAE Bulls: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Romario Shepherd, Muhammad Rohid, Tahir Zaman, Aneurin Donald, Muhammad Amir, Andre Fletcher, Khwaja Nafay, Nuwan Thushara, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Max Bryant, Azam Khan, Wali Muhammad, Uddish Suri, Bradley Currie and Shadab Khan.
United Tigers: Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Zeeshan Naseer, Awais Ali Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sufyan Moqim, Abbas Afridi, Odean Smith, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Noor ul Rahman, Shamim Hossain, Adithya Shetty, Noor Ullah Ayubi, Paul van Meekeren and Yasin Patel.
Yas Lions: Jason Holder, David Willey, Andries Gous, Ajay Kumar, Ansh Tandon, James Vince, Dasun Shanaka, Eshan Malinga, Karim Janat, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Tom Moores, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Obed McCoy, Kamil Pooran, Haider Ali, Masood Gurbaz, Aryan Dutt and Akeal Hosein.
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