The first marquee players have been lined up for the upcoming Zim Afro T10 league by the participating five teams before the draft is held on July 2. The inaugural edition will see some big names such as Eoin Morgan, BhanukaRajapaksa, SikanderRaza, Asif Ali and Yusuf Pathan lining up in Harare.

Organised by Zimbabwe Cricket in association with T Ten Global Sports, the Zim Afro T10 is expected to be one of the most riveting tournaments of the year and will be held from July 20 to 29.

Each squad needs to have a minimum of 16 players and at least six Zimbabwean players in the squad out of which one Zimbabwean player will be selected from the emerging player category from the nationwide talent hunt.Ahead of the draft, the franchises are allowed to have a maximum of 4 top internationals as their pre-signed players.

The five teams that will battle it out for the top honours are Harare Hurricanes, Joburg Buffaloes, Durban Qalandars, Bulawayo Braves and Cape Town Samp Army. All the games in the tournament will be played in Harare.

The following are the list of the top internationals pre signed by each team.

Pre-Draft signings

Harare Hurricanes:Eoin Morgan, Evin Lewis, ShahnawazDahani, Robin Uthappa

Cape Town Samp Army: BhanukaRajapaksa, Karim Janat, RahmanullahGurbaz, MaheeshTheekshana

Durban Qalandars:Asif Ali, SisandaMagala, George Linde, HazratullahZazai

Joburg Buffaloes:Yusuf Pathan, MushfiqurRehman, Tom Banton, Noor Ahmed

Bulawayo Braves:SikanderRaza, Ashton Turner, Tymal Mills, Ben McDermott

Zimbabwe Cricket’s Managing Director GivemoreMakoni said, “We are in the final stages ahead of the Zim Afro T10’s inaugural edition. This gives me immense joy, because to see this play out in reality has been a dream for all of the Zimbabwean cricket family, and it is a watershed moment in the history of the sport in the country. The fans, I am sure, are keenly waiting for the opening day.”

NawabShajiUlMulk, T Ten Global Sports Founder and Chairman, said, “To bring the T10 to Zimbabwe has been high on the agenda for us in the recent past, and that we are on the home stretch ahead of the inaugural edition of the tournament, is a source of great satisfaction for me. This is a red-letter day in the history of the sport, there will be another landmark on the day of the player draft. We can’t wait to get things rolling and welcome the best of the best players to Harare.”