The cricket stars are back once again to charm UAE spectators. As ILT20 franchises have announced their retention list ahead of the third season. Which will kick off on January 11, 2025. Nicholas Pooran, who led the trophy-winning team MI Emirates last season, has once again been retained by Mumbai Emirates. Whereas IPL 2024 MVP player Sunil Narine will also set to charm with his all-round attributes. Narine will play for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.
Apart from them, the emerging batter Jake Fraser-McGurk, along with Sam Billings and David Warner, has been retained by Dubai Capitals. Although England’s former skipper Joe Root and pacer Mark Wood, who were part of Dubai Capitals’ squad last year, have been missed out this time.
69 players have been picked
In the given press release, a total of 69 players have been retained by six franchises for Season 3. All matches will be played in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah. It was also mentioned that the window for retaining players opened on June1. And teams were given two weeks to submit the list of retained players.
Retained players for ILT20 Season 3
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders:
Aditya Shetty, Ali Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Andre Russell, Andries Gous, Charith Asalanka, David Willey, Joe Clarke, Laurie Evans, Micheal Pepper and Sunil Narine.
Desert Vipers:
Adam Hose, Alex Hales, Ali Naseer, Azam Khan, Bas de Leede, Luke Wood, Micheal Jones, Mohammad Amir, Nathan Sowter, Sherfane Rutherford, Tanish Suri and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Dubai Capitals:
Dasun Shanaka, David Warner, Dushmantha Chameera, Haider Ali, Raja Akif, Rovman Powell, Sam Billings, Sikandar Raza, Zahir Khan, Jake Fraser McGurk and Oliver Stone.
Gulf Giants:
Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Jordan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gerhard Erasmus, Jamie Overton, James Vince, Jamie Smith, Jordan Cox, Mohammad Zohaib Zubair, Rehan Ahmed, Richard Gleeson and Shimron Hetmyer.
MI Emirates:
Akeal Hosein, Andre Fletcher, Daniel Mousley, Dwayne Bravo, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jordan Thompson, Kieron Pollard, Kusal Perera, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Nicholas Pooran, Nosthush Kenjige, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Waqar Salamkheil.
Sharjah Warriors:
Dilshan Madushanka, Johnson Charles, Junaid Siddique, Muhamad Jawadullah, Kusal Mendis, Luke Wells, Peter Hatzoglou and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.