ILT20 Season 2: Filling seats, the Shaheen Afridi effect, and rivalries

Gulf Giants will get the defence of their DP World International League T20 title under way when they face Sharjah Warriors on Friday.

The venue for the big kick off for Season 2 of the UAE’s franchise competition is telling. Sharjah is the UAE’s oldest and arguably most atmospheric background.

In terms of attracting fans to the ground, Friday afternoon in Sharjah used to be regarded as as close to a sure thing as is possible.

While it might be inaccurate to suggest cricket is feverishly anticipating the ILT20’s restart, there are plenty of points of interest about what is set to follow over the next month or so.

This list could start and end here. For all the positives there were about the first season, the standout memory was of the swaths of empty seats that provided the backdrop to the TV feed.

Improving that image is priority number one, and David White, the new tournament CEO, has been bullish that it can be done.

Rather than relying on big-name signings selling the tournament on their own, as felt the case last year, the organisers have been far more active in the local community ahead of Season 2.

The marketing has been appealingly old school in some ways: there have been ticket giveaways on radio shows, and there is a ginormous billboard that is unmissable from Hessa Street. There has been some techy stealth on widely followed Facebook groups, too.

Let’s hope the marketing team’s efforts bear fruit. But they will be reliant on some other teams for it to be lasting.

DP WORLD ILT20 MATCH - 9 : ADKR VS DV

The number of close matches in Season 1 could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and you would still have half left over.

The disparity in results, between newly-formed teams who were, by their nature,