Mumbai Indians announce brand new names for their 2 franchises in UAE and South Africa's T20 leagues

Mumbai Indians (MI) team owners on Wednesday announced the names of their two franchises that will play in the UAE's International League T20 and CSA's T20 League in the 2022/23 season.

Earlier this year, the two new T20 leagues invited bids from different parts of the world to buy the franchises. Some Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises showed interest in the UAE league, while some went for teams in the South African tournament. MI bought one team each in both competitions.

MI secured the Cape Town franchise in South Africa, which they have now named MI Cape Town. In the UAE T20 league, the Mumbai Indians-owned team will play under the name MI Emirates.

Confirming the names of the two franchises, Mumbai Indians posted the following video on social media on Wednesday:

The rules of UAE's International T20 League allow the Indian Premier League teams to sign three players from their IPL 2022 squads. It will be interesting to see which players from Mumbai's squad will play for MI Emirates this year.

Mumbai Indians are not the only IPL franchise to have bought teams in UAE and South Africa's T20 Leagues

Delhi Capitals fans have got two more teams to support this season (Image: Getty)

Along with Mumbai, Delhi Capitals have also bought a team each in the two new T20 leagues of UAE and South Africa, which they have respectively christened the Dubai Capitals and Pretoria Capitals.

With both the new T20 leagues set to get underway in December 2022 or January 2023, the dates of the two tournaments are likely to clash. It will be interesting to see how Mumbai and Delhi manage their players in the two competitions.

Will MI Cape Town and MI Emirates dominate South Africa and UAE's leagues like Mumbai have done in the IPL? Sound off in the comments below.