Latest news with #DPWorldInternationalLeague
Al Etihad
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
ILT20 advance fourth season start to Eid Al Etihad day
15 May 2025 00:32 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)Cricket fans in the UAE will be treated to a double delight of the country's flagship tournament – the DP World International League T20 (ILT20) season – this year after the dates for the fourth season were a busy period towards the turn of the calendar year in the cricket world, the private promoters of the ILT20 have decided to start the month-long fourth edition from December 2, the occasion of Eid Al decision to postpone had an added sense of urgency because the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in February-March next year, and before that, the premier domestic T20 leagues of South Africa and Australia are held in overlap with the ILT20 as held the first three seasons across the January-February window, this means that the year 2025 will go down in the tournament's short history as the one with two tournaments and Dubai Capitals will return again in the same year to defend their title. The fourth season, comprising 34 matches and six teams as usual, will conclude with the final on January Al Zarooni, the league chairman of ILT20 and Vice Chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board, said through a statement: "We are delighted to confirm that the DP World International League T20 Season 4 will commence on Eid Al Etihad, which is one of the most important days on the UAE calendar."It is the occasion, he said, when "we celebrate the UAE, which is home to people from around the world, including millions of diehard cricket fans. It is a real honour for us to join the nation in the celebrations with the launch of the region's biggest T20 league on the same day."David White, the Chief Executive Officer of the league, added, "Following extensive discussions with all our stakeholders, we believe the tournament window is ideal... as it will allow the players playing both in the DP World ILT20 and the T20 World Cup to prepare for national duty. In addition, we feel that the December-January window will provide the teams' the best opportunity to access a bigger pool of players." 'Season 3 was a big success with outstanding broadcast and digital numbers as the fans enjoyed a step-up in the quality of cricket. We are now fully focused on making an even bigger impact for the next season,' White added.
Mid East Info
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Mid East Info
Mark Your Calendars: DP World ILT20 Season 4 returns this December
The DP World International League T20 Season 4 will begin on Tuesday, 2 December – UAE National Day (Eid-Al-Etihad) with the six-team, 34-match tournament set to conclude with the final on Sunday, 4 January 2026. The biggest T20 league in the Gulf region has moved out of its traditional January-February window as the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in February-March 2026. Chairman ILT20 and Vice-Chairman Emirates Cricket Board Khalid Al Zarooni: 'We are delighted to confirm that the DP World International League T20 Season 4 will commence on the UAE National Day – Eid-Al-Etihad – which is one of the most important days on the UAE calendar. 'The UAE National Day is the day where we celebrate the United Arab Emirates which is home to people from around the world including millions of diehard cricket fans. It is a real honour for us to join the nation in the UAE National Day 2025 celebrations with the launch of the region's biggest T20 league – the DP World ILT20 Season 4, on the same day.' CEO DP World ILT20 David White: 'Following extensive discussions with all our stakeholders, we believe the 2 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 tournament window is ideal for the DP World International League T20 Season 4. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup begins in early February hence it was important for us to start and finish Season 4 well before the tournament as it will allow the players playing both the DP World ILT20 and the T20 World Cup to prepare for national duty. In addition, we feel that the December-January window will provide the teams' the best opportunity to access a bigger pool of players. 'Season 3 was a big success with outstanding broadcast and digital numbers as the fans enjoyed a step-up in the quality of cricket. The teams gave their absolute all across the hugely competitive 34-tournament matches which concluded with a nail-biting final won by the Dubai Capitals in the last over of the match in front of a packed Dubai International Stadium. We are now fully focused on making an even bigger impact as we turn our attention to Season 4.' DP World ILT20's Season 3 featured some of the biggest T20 stars including; Nicholas Pooran, Sam Curran (player of the tournament – red belt winner), Shai Hope (most runs in the tournament – green belt winner), Fazalhaq Farooqi (highest wicket-taker – white belt winner), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Jason Holder, Alex Hales, Fakhar Zaman, Lockie Ferguson, David Warner, Rovman Powell, Dasun Shanaka, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, James Vince, Shimron Hetmyer, Tom Banton, Romario Shepherd, Tim Southee, Tim Seifert, Matthew Wade, Jason Roy, Adil Rashid and Adam Zampa. The Dubai Capitals won the glittering trophy, edging out the Desert Vipers in a thrilling final which was played in front of a full house at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, 9 February 2025.
The National
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
ILT20 Season 3 was a step back for UAE players as their battle for recognition goes on
Many of us have been guilty at some stage or other of thinking the history of UAE started when we arrived. 'I think you have seen [improvement] with the local players over the past three years,' Sam Billings said on Sunday night. 'Mohammed Waseem is a quality player. We know that. Now you have probably 10 local players who can put their hand up as being genuine quality. We didn't have that three years ago.' Given he was sat next to the DP World International League T20 trophy having just led Dubai Capitals to the title in a thrilling final, it is difficult to argue. Having played in all three finals of the UAE's T20 franchise competition to date, Billings was speaking from a position of both power and wisdom. But UAE cricket did not start with the advent of ILT20, just like Indian cricket did not start when the Indian Premier League began. The league is not to thank for creating players when their opportunities in a tournament that is here for one month of the year remain so limited. Ashis Nandy, in the Tao of Cricket, described the sport as being an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English. To mangle the sentiment, the ILT20 is an Indian league peopled by Englishmen, that just happens to be staged in the UAE. Matches are scheduled with Indian prime time TV in mind. Fair enough, too, given the revenue that has generated powers the league. The organisers say it is the second most watched in the world, after the IPL, based largely on the ratings it gets on the Zee TV back in India. One of the Zee TV execs said before Season 3 that 'if India is watching, then the world is watching'. The opening ceremony included performances by Bollywood stars. All the Bollywood glam is great, and it is deeply entwined with the heritage of UAE cricket. Stars of the Indian film and entertainment industries have been coming to matches here since the start of the Sharjah Cup in the 1980s, which was itself a forebear for the IPL in many ways. But that was more than 40 years ago now. UAE cricket has long since been able to stand on its own two feet, so why is it being treated as an emerging programme by its own competition? The UAE national team played at the T20 World Cup the year before the ILT20 first launched. They were good enough that 11 players were able to share a field against the world's best. But in their own league they are now hidden behind journeymen from abroad. English players bowled nearly twice as many overs as UAE ones in this tournament, and had nearly six times as long at the batting crease. We are not talking about Joe Root, Jos Buttler or Jofra Archer here. Players who would bring paying customers through the gates, and eyeballs to TV screens. Instead, that included the likes of Adam Rossington and Tom Alsop, admirable county pros who could wander around Dubai Mall entirely unrecognised. Both of those players had fine moments in the ILT20. But should they be getting chances ahead of local prospects? English players are getting more out of this competition than UAE ones, and that does not seem right. Take the case of Jordan Cox. The highly rated young wicketkeeper-batter has played 21 ILT20 matches over the past two seasons. He has maintained his place near the top of Gulf Giants' middle order, despite the middling return of 401 runs at 20, with a strike rate of 113. Good for him. Cox might end up being a very fine player for England. Brendon McCullum, for one, reportedly thinks he is going to be. Now he is two years of ILT20 cricket better off, both financially and in terms of experience. He has been allowed to fail for that time in order to get better. That is great for him, but why are UAE players not indulged in the same way? If a UAE player had returns like Cox's, they would have lasted four games, max, or been shuffled down the batting line up in no short order, maybe to play instead as a specialist fielder. Like Ethan D'Souza. The Abu Dhabi-raised teenager played seven games for Sharjah Warriorz, and did not bat in three of them. On debut, he batted at No 9, below bowlers like Keemo Paul and Tim Southee. He is 'learning just by being there', though, presumably. The fact D'Souza is an incredible fielder meant he was deemed to be worth more to Sharjah than either of their two spare UAE players, the bowlers Mohammad Jawadullah and Junaid Siddique. Further to that, the same franchise flew in Moeen Ali from South Africa for their last-chance play-off against Desert Vipers. A household name of great pedigree, no doubt. But his arrival meant Rohan Mustafa and D'Souza were shunted a place down the batting order, and Mustafa's bowling was not called on until it was apparent that Moeen's off-spin was suffering from some sort of jet lag. Alishan Sharafu was the second highest run-getter for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, even though he was undermined in the first game by being retired out by his team when within a shot of making 50. At least it became clear it wasn't a conspiracy against UAE players, per se. It later happened to Roston Chase and Joe Clarke, too. But it was all a little unseemly and embarrassing. The tactic did not exactly work too well in the long run, either. The Knight Riders were too clever for their own good, and flounced out of the tournament before the play-offs. At Desert Vipers, who came so close to winning the title, there was the case of Ali Naseer. The 20-year-old all-rounder is one of the brightest prospects anywhere in the game, not just in the UAE. Yet the ILT20 was a waste of time for him. He neither batted nor bowled in four or the seven matches he played. He bowled one over in the month, and batted at No 9 twice. In every game, his prospects were diminished the odious super sub rule, where a player can be replaced when their game is basically finished. The rule is a complete nonsense, borrowed from the IPL, and it is clear it is failing the UAE players. Having an additional batter or bowler almost always limits the chance for the local player to have a meaningful impact on the game. Six of the 15 most economical bowlers in Season 3 were from the UAE. That is despite the fact they were often under used. Aayan Khan took 10 wickets. His combined bowling average and strike rate was superior to any other bowler in the competition. And yet only twice in 10 games was he given his full quota of four overs, and in three he was not even bowled at all. One of the tournaments with which the ILT20 clashed was Australia's Big Bash League. Mitchell Owen came from nowhere to make a star of himself with a hundred in the final of that event. He even got an SA20 deal to replace Joe Root in the process. There is nothing better than seeing a local lad make good like that, but the chances for that to happen in the ILT20 are severely restricted. Maybe the UAE players aren't that good. Or maybe they are. Who knows, if they so rarely get a proper chance?
The National
08-02-2025
- Sport
- The National
ILT20: David Warner fit for final against Desert Vipers as Dubai Capitals eye first major trophy for GMR
David Warner will be fit to help Dubai Capitals push for a first DP World International League T20 title when they face Desert Vipers in the final on Sunday. The Australian great has played just one match in the competition so far, after arriving from playing at the Big Bash League. Despite such limited exposure, he has already had a significant impact on the event. In that match, against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, he hit 93 not out from 57 balls. It set the Capitals up for the second biggest total in the competition and a victory, but Warner missed the following two matches due to a back injury. The Capitals played three matches in the course of four days, with Warner sitting out the latter two. They thrived despite his absence, striking two psychological blows ahead of the final. First, they beat the Vipers by nine wickets in the final match of the league phase. Then, on Wednesday, they beat the same opposition in a final-ball thriller to become the first team through to the showpiece fixture at Dubai International Stadium. The Vipers subsequently made it through in their second-chance qualifier against Sharjah Warriorz on Friday night. It mean Warner said the previous fixtures between the side will count for nothing in the final, though. 'When you've beaten them a couple of times, that's the scary part,' Warner said. 'Sometimes that momentum can break. Hopefully, that doesn't happen and we can continue our form. 'They have a powerhouse batting line-up, so for us, it's all about taking early wickets, sticking to our basics and plans with the ball.' Each of the sides have been runners up in the previous two seasons of the UAE's franchise competition. The Vipers were the losing finalists in the first season, against Gulf Giants back in 2023, while the Capitals lost out to MI Emirates 12 months later. Having been part of the Vipers side in the first campaign, Sam Billings switched to the Capitals last season. The Capitals captain is looking to avoid a hat-trick of final defeats. As with Warner, he was a late arrival after playing at the BBL. The duo played together for Sydney Thunder in that event in Australia, and Billings is happy to have the 38-year-old opener back available for selection. 'It was a real blessing that we had a few extra days to rest up [after winning their place in the final by winning the first qualifier on Wednesday],' Billings said. 'He is a quality performer. [We played] together at the Big Bash [for Sydney Thunder] this year and got through to the final, and he showed his class. 'People were starting to write him off, but actually I think he has played some of his best cricket in recent times. Any team that David Warner is in is a stronger team for it. 'He is a big game player and I have no doubt he is the sort of guy who will step up tomorrow. That is what I am hoping for.' If the Capitals do claim the title it would be the first win in a major franchise tournament for their owners, GMR. They also own the Delhi franchise of the same name in the Indian Premier League, whose best result was finishing runners up in the 2020 IPL – the final of which was also played in Dubai. While the Capitals are welcoming back one of their key players, the Vipers will be without two major assets of their own. Lockie Ferguson, their captain, is nursing a hamstring strain, and will not be risked with a view to national duty with New Zealand in the Champions Trophy later this month. Wanindu Hasaranga has also departed the squad because of international commitments with Sri Lanka. Ferguson did at least complete the pre-final formalities in his role as captain, but will now hand over the leadership duties to Sam Curran for the match. 'From day one we have all enjoyed being a part of the squad, and the family we have created has translated on the field,' Ferguson said. 'The Dubai Capitals are an exceptional team, and I think the top two teams in the competition have made it to the final.' Despite the loss of Ferguson and Hasaranga, the Vipers still have plenty of experience to call on, with Mohammed Amir leading their bowling attack. 'I love big stages, so why not? I want to be a part of the champion team,' Amir said. 'This [ILT20] is on my bucket list. I have won 2009 T20 World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy, PSL, CPL, T10. And now I want to win this tournament.'
