90 UAE cricketers to feature in ILT20 Development Tournament

DUBAI: UAE captain Muhammad Waseem will lead the ILT20 Marvels in the inaugural ILT20 Development Tournament that begins at the ICC Academy Grounds, Dubai from Saturday, Sept. 30.

A total of 90 players (15 per side) made it to the six squads via a player draft held earlier this week.

The tournament will provide an opportunity to UAE’s domestic players as well as those who have played internationals (ODIs and T20Is) to showcase their talent and impress the DP World ILT20 franchises for selection in the squads for Season 2.

Ali Abid will captain the ILT20 Blitzers, Muhammad Usman will skipper the ILT20 Braves, Karthik Meiyappan will lead ILT20 Dynamos while seasoned UAE batter Rohan Mustafa will be in charge of the ILT20 Thunderbolts.

Each team will play five matches in the group stage, with the top-four sides at the end of the group stage progressing to the semifinals. The final will be played on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The six squads were chosen by their respective head coaches and support staff.

The head coaches include Rizwan Arshad (Braves), Sandeep Dhuri (Blitzers), Jared Davids (Dynamos), Rejith Arjun (Marvels), Shahzada Saleem (Pearls) and Khurram Khan (Thunderbolts). Tournament Director of the ILT20 Development Tournament Andy Russell oversaw the selection process.

Six franchises of DP World ILT20 have retained 11 UAE players as part of their squads for Season 2. This means 13 spots are still up for grabs (franchises need to have at least four UAE players in their squads).

Out of the 11 retained players from Season 1, the following eight will participate in the ILT20 Development Tournament: Aayan Afzal Khan (Gulf Giants), Junaid Siddique (Sharjah Warriors), Matiullah (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Mohammad Waseem