UAE T10 team Karachians to be rebranded after Pakistan court order

The UAE T10 franchise Karchians is working out a new team name after a court in Pakistan ordered against using the word "Karachians" or anything "phonetically deceptive or resembling name".

The Karachians is one of the eight franchises in the tournament, which is due to begin on November 21 and apparently draws its team names from various parts of the subcontinent, for example Kerala Kings, Bengal Tigers and Punjabi Legends. However, last week, its organisers had to suspend their promotional activities after Sindh High Court's order barred TV and radio organisations in Pakistan from broadcasting or advertising anything from the T10 league related to the Karachians - or any other team using Karachi in their name in Pakistan or abroad.

The directive came after Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Super League franchise, sought a stay order from the court against the UAE T10 league's usage of the name Karachi. Team owner Salman Iqbal, who was also the president of the T10 league until he stepped down in September, filed the writ petition. And in response to it, the court issued its order to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). The Karachians - which is owned by a Pakistani based in the UAE - had been actively involved in the promotion of the league and their team in Karachi and Lahore.

Hearing the counter argument, the court observed that the major cause of disagreement was about the use of city's name or anything related. "Learned counsel for the defendants No 1 and 2 (T10 stakeholders) files a statement and states that the said defendants are the organisers and promoters of second edition of T-10 league and one of the team name in the said league is "Karachians". However, the said defendants will not use the name "Karachians" or "Karachi" or any name with suffix of "King" nor shall they use any logo etc in the said T-10 league or with any other phonetically deceptive or resembling name. The statement is taken on record," the court order read.

While it is to be noted that a court in Pakistan holds no legal jurisdiction over a business in the UAE, Nawab Shajiul Mulk, the league chairman, said that the franchise would comply with the court order.

"We got the high court stay to be fully vacated and we are back to promotions and broadcasting of T10 in Pakistan," he told ESPNcricinfo.

"Due to shortage of time and to avoid the risk of stay being extended for further arguments we agreed to not use the name "Karachians "in the league and will now be changing the name. We are happy that we were able to quickly dispose of the stay order and get back to promotions of the T10 league in Pakistan."

A lawyer representing the T10 league said it still retains the right to use the word "Karachi" and its variations in the future.