Saudi Arabia is set to host its first franchise league later this year, with the ‘Dunes League T20’ due to launch in October. The league has been sanctioned by the Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation (SACF) and is expected to feature players who have recently retired from international cricket but remain active on the franchise circuit.

Saudi Arabia has been a major disruptor in the sporting world over the last five years as the oil-rich kingdom looks to diversify its economy, staging lucrative football, tennis and boxing events. The nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) also launched the breakaway LIV Golf tour, though has recently announced that it will withdraw funding at the end of this season.

There have been widespread rumours over the last three years that Saudi Arabia would disrupt cricket by launching a T20 league to rival the IPL, with further speculation last year about potential investment in a ‘Grand Slam-style’ circuit  of T20 leagues floated by the Australian Cricketers’ Association.

In practice, Arabia’s entry into the cricketing world has been gradual, via sponsorship deals with the ICC and staging the IPL auction in 2024. The SACF also partnered with the UAE’s ILT20 last year, and has signed a long-term agreement to stage the FairBreak Women’s T20 Challenge,  though the first edition has been postponed due to conflict in the Gulf region.

The six-team Dunes T20 League is planned to launch in October with matches played in Taif, near Jeddah. It has been developed in partnership with the Sports Asian Network and two talent agencies: Unique Sports Group, whose clients include Jofra Archer, and Prolithic, who manage Abhishek Sharma. Prolithic’s Yuvraj Singh will act as the league’s ambassador.

The SACF initially announced provisional plans for the league late last year and said that it was designed to put Saudi Arabia “on the global cricket map” and “develop Saudi talent”.

The league is expected to feature a maximum of four players who have played full-member international cricket in the last two years, thereby falling under the threshold that demands approval from the ICC. Top salaries could reach USD 100,000.

[Cricinfo]

After back-to-back ducks in his last two innings, Virat Kohli showed most emphatically that he had merely been out of runs and not out of form, scoring his ninth IPL hundred to lead Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to the top of the IPL 2026 table with a commanding win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Raipur.

Kohli’s unbeaten 60-ball 105 was a vintage effort in a run-chase – smooth, controlled, and full of both relentless sprinting between the wickets and gorgeous strokeplay, particularly at either end of his innings. That he never seemed stretched, however, was perhaps the story of the match – it may have been decided by the relative quality of the bowling attacks, particularly the seamers.

RCB’s bowlers did a superb job to keep KKR down to below 200 even though they only lost four wickets, and KKR’s inexperienced seam attack simply couldn’t match them for discipline and ability to extract misbehaviour from a slightly two-paced surface – with the caveat that it may have eased up a little during the second innings.

This was the first time RCB had fielded all three of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy and Josh Hazlewood – the legspinner Suyash Sharma made way. This suggested RCB expected conditions to play similarly to their previous game in Raipur, against Mumbai Indians, with seam movement and inconsistent bounce throughout.

When the match began – after a rain delay of an hour and a quarter – it became clear that this was a much better pitch to bat on, but there was still something in it for the seamers. Bhuvneshwar showed this with a cross-seamer that nipped away to nick off Finn Allen in the third over, and Hazlewood showed this by getting a short-of-length ball to rear at Ajinkya Rahane and have him caught and bowled off a miscued pull in the fifth over.

KKR still scored 56 in their powerplay, though, and 31 of those runs came in two overs from Duffy, who took the new ball ahead of Hazlewood, and didn’t do too much that was obviously wrong, but Allen, Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvansh were good enough to put away marginal errors in line and length.

Prema Pinnawala, one of Sri Lanka’s most experienced and influential sports administrators, passed away after a brief illness on Tuesday. He was 88 at the time of his passing.

‎Pinnawala, who dedicated more than six decades to sports administration, played a pivotal role in shaping athletics and Olympic sports governance in Sri Lanka. His contribution to sport extended across national and international platforms, making him a respected figure within the athletics fraternity.

‎He first rose to prominence as a sportsman during his school days at Christian Mission College in the 1950s. His journey into sports administration began in 1963 when he was appointed Chairman of the Sports Council at the University of Peradeniya, marking the start of a career that would span several decades.

‎Joining the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation in the late 1960s, Pinnawala also became actively involved with the National Service Sports Association, where he held a number of positions over the years.

‎His association with athletics administration commenced in the late 1960s when he joined the committee of Sri Lanka Athletics. In 1978, he was elevated to the position of Vice President of the association, before taking on a more prominent national role in 1983 as Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka.

‎Pinnawala held the position for 15 years until 1998, becoming one of the key architects of Sri Lanka’s Olympic and sports administration during a transformative period. Following his tenure at the National Olympic Committee, he returned to Sri Lanka Athletics and assumed duties as General Secretary in 1998. He held the post thrice (1998-2010, 2013-2014 and 2017-2023) between 1998 and until his retirement in 2023.

‎Although his prolonged presence in sports administration, attracted criticism from certain quarters, Pinnawala remained steadfast, often maintaining that his continued involvement served the greater interests of sport. Undeterred by opposition, he continued to contribute extensively to the functioning of athletics.

‎Over the decades, he developed a reputation as an effective mediator and coordinator between local and international sporting bodies. His expertise and diplomatic approach saw his services sought by influential government officials, including heads of state, particularly in matters involving sports administration and international relations.

‎Internationally, Pinnawala earned considerable recognition within the athletics community. In 2025, his exceptional and long-standing service to athletics was acknowledged by World Athletics, which honoured him with the World Athletics Veteran Pin.

‎His contributions beyond Sri Lanka included serving as Secretary of the South Asian Sports Council, Secretary of the Media Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia, and as a Council Member of the Asian Athletics Association.

‎Apart from sports administration, Pinnawala also established himself as a prominent corporate leader, serving for many years as General Manager of the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

‎He is survived by his wife, Jayani Pinnawala, a senior administrative officer and former Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and their two daughters.

(RF)