A new T20 league – named ILT20 or UAE International League T20 – with some innovations in league cricket is set to kickstart in January 2023. The league will contain 6 teams, and three of them are owned by the IPL owners of Mumbai Indians, Dehli Capitals, and Kolkata Knight Riders. The first season of ILT20 will be played between the 6th of January and the 12th of February, 2023.
In the league stage, every team will play 10 games (2 against each opposition). So, the total number of league matches will be 30. Afterward, four playoff games, including the final, will be contested for the title.
MI Emirates Becomes the First Team to Reveal their Squad for ILT20
All six teams can keep an 18 players squad, including a maximum of 12 foreign players. Also, 3 players from UAE, 2 from other Associates, and 1 from UAE U-23 must be included.
So far, MI Emirates is the only franchise to announce their 14 directly signed players. There are some renowned T20 players on the list, along with 4 cricketers who have played or are playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL. These four players are Trent Boult, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, and Dwayne Bravo.
Let’s take a look at the squad (14 members) announced by the Reliance-supported MI Emirates franchise.
MI Emirates squad
Trent Boult, Samit Patel, Will Smeed, Jordan Thompson, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Fletcher, Imran Tahir, Najibullah Zadran, Bas De Leede, Zahir Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Bradley Wheal, Muhammad Waseem, Basil Hameed, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan
Bidding Purse and Other ILT20 Team Squads
As per ILT20’s rules, the total salary cap per team is 2.5 million US dollars. However, if a franchise pays 1.5 million US dollars as a signing-on or loyalty bonus, it will add 500,000 US dollars to its bidding pot. There are 9 wage slots for players having a top-category income of 340,000 US dollars and the lowest payout of 10,000 US dollars.
Other teams have not yet announced their squads openly, but several player signings are confirmed. Based on them, underlying are the squads of 3 other franchises.
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Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Squad
Jonny Bairstow, Andre Russell, Paul Stirling, Colin Ingram, Sunil Narine, Lahiru Kumara, Charith Asalanka, Brandon Glover, Akeal Hosein, Kennar Lewis, Ali Khan, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Matiullah Khan, Fahad Nawaz, Sabir Ali, Zawar Farid
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Dubai Capitals Squad
Joe Root, Robin Uthappa, Ravi Bopara, Yusuf Pathan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Hazratullah Zazai, Fabian Allen, Dan Lawrence, Rovman Powell, Dushmantha Chameera, Niroshan Dickwella, Blessing Muzarabani, Isuru Udana, George Munsey, Fred Klaassen, Hazrat Luqman, Chirag Suri, Jash Ginyani, Raja Akif Ullah Khan
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Sharjah Warriors Squad
Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Chris Woakes, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Joe Denly, Evin Lewis, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Nabi, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, JJ Smit, Chris Benjamin, Danny Briggs, Mark Deyal, Bilal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Alishan Sharafu, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah
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Desert Vipers
Alex Hales, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Ben Duckett, Tymal Mills, Adam Lyth, Mark Watt, Colin Munro, Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana, Benny Howell, Sheldon Cottrell, Sherfane Rutherford, Ruben Trumpelmann, Rohan Mustafa, Sheraz Ahmad, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Gus Atkinson, Dinesh Chandimal, Jake Lintott
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Gulf Giants
Chris Jordan, Chris Lynn, James Vince, Tom Banton, David Wiese, Liam Dawson, Jamie Overton, Wayne Madsen, Richard Gleeson, Ollie Pope, Shimron Hetmyer, Dominic Drakes, Qais Ahmad, Rehan Ahmed, Aayan Khan, Sanchit Sharma, CP Rizwaan, Ashwant Valthapa
