Royal Desert Champions have become the latest team to join the Abu Dhabi T10 as the tournament enters a new era under the stewardship of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub (ADCSH).

Royal Desert Champions takes its inspiration from the people who have made UAE their home – the dreamers who arrived with ambition, the builders who created something from ground up, and the achievers who continue to push the boundaries of what is possible. The team aims to celebrate that spirit of ambition, possibility and achievement, both on and off the field.

Reflecting this spirit is the appointment of Trinidadian superstar Nicholas Pooran as the captain and Icon player of the new franchise, while England international Phil Salt and West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford have joined as direct signings, giving Royal Desert Champions an exciting core of proven short-format talent.

Together, the three signings send an early signal of the Royal Desert Champions’ ambitions ahead of their debut in the 2026 tournament, which runs from 7-20 November at Zayed Cricket Stadium in the UAE capital.

Pooran is widely regarded as one of the standout talents of West Indies’ second generation of T20 stars. He represented the West Indies in limited-overs cricket until 2024 and previously captained the national team.

Salt adds another explosive presence at the top of the order. The England international is an aggressive right-handed opening batter and has built experience across international and domestic short-format cricket.

Rutherford meanwhile brings further power and versatility. The West Indian is an impactful short-format all-rounder, combining aggressive middle-order batting with medium-pace bowling and has competed across major competitions including the CPL, IPL, PSL, BPL, ILT20 and MLC.

Royal Desert Champions take their identity from resolute desert characteristics forged in a demanding environment. The new team has been founded by entrepreneur and former banker Amit Narang who has more than 17 years’ experience with leading international banks in India and the Emirates and has built a successful fintech business in the UAE.

Amit said the opportunity to create the first completely new franchise of the Abu Dhabi T10’s new era, backed by a strong group of initial signings, provides the foundations for ambitions extending well beyond on-field success.

“Royal Desert Champions is built on the belief that champions are revealed when conditions are toughest. The desert embodies the qualities we want this team to stand for – resilience, courage, adaptability, and ambition.

“As the first new founding team of this new Abu Dhabi T10 era, we have the opportunity to create something distinctive from the ground up – a team that the emirate can be proud of, a brand that connects with fans locally and globally, and a franchise with the ambition to build a lasting legacy.

“With Nicholas leading us, supported by outstanding players such as Phil and Sherfane, we have an exciting core around which to build. We are here to compete, to win and to create something that endures.”

Working alongside Pooran to shape that ambition on the field will be former India international all-rounder Robin Singh, who has been appointed Team Director. Singh brings extensive playing and coaching experience, including a long association with Mumbai Indians and roles across international and franchise cricket. His record also includes winning titles in both T10 and ILT20 cricket, giving the new franchise an experienced figure with an established understanding of success in the shortest formats.

“Having been closely associated with the Abu Dhabi tournament format over the years, I am delighted to continue my journey with the Royal Desert Champions,” said Singh. “I look forward to building around our strong core a quality and competitive team capable of making an immediate impact in the Abu Dhabi T10.”

Welcoming the new team to the Abu Dhabi T10 2026 field, Matt Boucher, CEO of ADCSH and the Abu Dhabi T10, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome the Royal Desert Champions to the Abu Dhabi T10. Bringing together a strong regional identity with world-class international talent is exactly the kind of ambition we want to see as the competition continues to grow.

“The new team ownership has set out a clear direction for the team, and they are already assembling an impressive combination of leadership, experience, and international talent. With Robin guiding the sporting operation and Nicholas, Phil and Sherfane providing such a solid early foundation on the field, it will be exciting to see how the Royal Desert Champions take shape ahead of November.”

Royal Desert Champions will now continue building their squad and sporting structure as preparations accelerate for the 2026 Abu Dhabi T10 Official Player Draft on 30 September in Abu Dhabi.

The DP World ILT20 Season 5 Player Auction will be held in Dubai on Thursday, 1 October 2026, at the ICC Academy indoors facility. The auction will bring together all six franchises as they look to complete their squads for the upcoming season, following their Pre-Auction Signings that were announced in August.

The Auction rules, purse, and mechanics are explained below.

Auction rules

• Each franchise will have a purse of USD 1,300,000 to spend at the auction plus whatever spend remains unutilised from the USD 700,000 that was available for direct signings and retentions (remaining balance for each franchise will be announced before the DP World ILT20 Player Auction).
• At the end of the auction, each franchise must have spent a minimum of $1.5m and a maximum of $2m (excluding a Wildcard player that may be added after the auction).
• At the end of the auction, each franchise must have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players. Within this there must be a minimum of 11 players from ICC Full Member countries (at least four of which must be from Afghanistan and at least one of which must be from Ireland), a minimum of four players from the UAE, a minimum of one player from Kuwait, a minimum of one player from Saudi Arabia and at least one further player from ICC Associate countries (excluding the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).

Player registration

• The minimum base price for all players is USD 10,000. Players may also have a base price of USD 40,000 or USD 80,000.
• The DP World ILT20 player registrations were completed between July and September – deadline September 12.
• Full member players and associate players (excluding UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) had the option to set their own base price for the auction as per the following levels:
  • USD $10,000
  • USD $40,000
  • USD $80,000
• Players from Afghanistan and Ireland had the option to set their base prices at the above levels, with the following provisos:
  • To have a base price of USD $40,000, they must have been capped at international level and/or have played in DP World ILT20 previously.
  • To have a base price of USD $80,000 they must have been capped 100 or more times at international level (may be cumulative across Tests, ODI and IT20).
• All UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players have a base price of USD $10,000.
• If a player is injured, receives an international call up or does not receive an NOC, they may be replaced at any time until the end of the league phase of DP World ILT20 Season 5. Replacement players do not need to have been featured in the player auction. No additional players will be added after the auction and the Wildcard player, only replacements may be added to the squad.

Auction mechanics

• Players will be allocated sets on account of status (i.e. Capped UAE player/Full Member/Associate player/Uncapped UAE Player/Kuwait player/Saudi Arabia player) and specialisation (batsman, bowler, all-rounder, wicketkeeper etc).
• Each set will include six to ten players.
• Within the sets, players will be drawn at random, and the auctioneer will read out the player’s name and his base price. The auctioneer will then invite bids until there are no further bids.
• The base price of the player will be visible on screens during the auction, with the bidding shown in real time.  
• Once a player has received his first bid in the auction, bids will be raised in the following increments:
  • USD $2,000 for bids between USD $10,000 and USD $ 50,000;
  • USD $5,000 for bids between USD $50,000 and USD $100,000;
  • USD $10,000 for bids of USD $100,000 and above.
• Following the conclusion of all sets (Full member, Associate Member, UAE Players, Kuwait players and Saudi Arabia players), if franchises still have room in their squad, they may request up to eight players from the Accelerated Set to be put forward into the auction.
• Once all Franchises have spent their minimum total spend ($1.5m per team) and have fulfilled their minimum quotas of each type of player, they will be asked if they wish to end the auction. Once all six Franchises have fulfilled their minimum requirements and are either unable or do not wish to sign any more players, the auction will be declared finished by the auctioneer.

Player Right to Match

• Franchises will each have four Rights to Match to use during the auction:
  • One for a Full member player that played for that Franchise in Season 4 (including Afghanistan and Ireland)
  • One for an Associate member player that played for that Franchise in Season 4
  • One for a UAE player that played for that Franchise in Season 4, or was part of their Development Squad in the 2026 ILT20 Development Tournament
  • One for a Kuwait or Saudi player that played for that Franchise in Season 4
• All of these Rights to Match are optional and not obligatory.

Replacement players

• If a player is injured, receives an international call-up or does not receive an NOC, they may be replaced at any time until the end of the league phase of DP World ILT20 Season 5. Once the tournament support period has commenced, approvals for replacement players must be granted by the ILT20 Technical Committee.
• Replacement of mandatory players (i.e. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Afghanistan or Ireland) must come from the pool of players that registered for the auction. Replacement players from other nations do not have to have registered in the auction.

Abu Dhabi T10 has appointed Apex Sports Consulting as its official partner for global broadcast rights distribution.

Apex Sports Consulting is a UAE-based sports advisory firm with a proven track record of delivering landmark media rights deals across cricket and global sport.

Under this mandate, Apex Sports will lead Abu Dhabi T10’s global broadcast distribution strategy across television and digital platforms. The focus is on expanding the tournament’s reach to more screens in more markets, growing its international audience, and building a stronger commercial foundation for the next phase of Abu Dhabi T10’s growth.

Matt Boucher, CEO of Abu Dhabi Sports Hub, said: “Apex Sports understands both the cricket market and the broadcast business. We are thrilled to have them alongside us as we take Abu Dhabi T10 to an even wider global audience.”

Imran Khan, CEO of Apex Sports Consulting, said: “Abu Dhabi T10 is a property with real momentum. We look forward to working with Matt and the Abu Dhabi Sports Hub team to build the right distribution partnerships for this next chapter.”