T10 League 2020/21: Chris Gayle joins Team Abu Dhabi as icon player

The latest edition of the T10 League will begin next month in the United Arab Emirates. Team Abu Dhabi, the home franchise, made a grand announcement on Saturday. The team have roped in Chris Gayle as their icon player for the fourth edition of the league.

Chris Gayle has made a name for himself with his terrific performances in the T20 leagues and is one of the most popular cricketers around the world. It is pertinent to note Gayle skipped the last T10 League season. He had earlier played for the Kerala Knights in 2018.

Team Abu Dhabi announced Chris Gayle's signing on Twitter with the following post.

"The Universe Boss... Welcome to Team Abu Dhabi, @henrygayle #AbuDhabiT10 #TeamAbuDhabi," the franchise captioned the post.

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓮 𝓑𝓸𝓼𝓼...Welcome to Team Abu Dhabi, @henrygayle 😎🪐#AbuDhabiT10 #TeamAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/xnl6ZGm1bt

— Team Abu Dhabi Cricket (@TeamADCricket) December 19, 2020

Chris Gayle to play with Luke Wright, Avishka Fernando at Team Abu Dhabi

Chris Gayle will join forces with T20 specialist Luke Wright at Team Abu Dhabi. The home team announced the four players they have retained for the season last evening.

Along with Wright, Team Abu Dhabi kept hold of Hayden Walsh, Avishka Fernando, and Rohan Mustafa. Chris Gayle's presence will bolster Team Abu Dhabi's chances of winning the T10 League. Gayle played six games for the Kerala Knights in the 2018 season and aggregated 81 runs in five T10 innings at a strike rate of 144.64.

🪐 ICON SIGNING 💫The Universe Boss @henrygayle joins home side @TeamADCricket as their #AbuDhabiT10 Season 4️⃣ Icon Player! 😎No player has hit more sixes in international cricket than Chris Gayle - 5️⃣3️⃣4️⃣ to be exact! 🤯#InAbuDhabu #TeamAbuDhabi #ChrisGayle pic.twitter.com/13ZWWnxfpQ

— T10 League (@T10League) December 19, 2020

Team Abu Dhabi finished in the sixth position in the T10 League standings last year, with two wins in six outings.

The latest edition of the T10 League will commence on January 28th, 2021, and will go on till February 6th. Earlier in the day, the Qalandars announced they had signed Shahid Afridi as their icon player.