Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Dubai)
The second season of the International League T20 cricket tournament is all set to begin on Friday when the first ball is bowled between hosts Sharjah Warriors and defending champions Gulf Giants. The nearly month-long tournament will be held from January 19 to February 17 across the three world-class venues in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Always a fun time with these two from the Gulf Giants🤩#DPWorldILT20 #AllInForCricket pic.twitter.com/jtfSzgtkja
— International League T20 (@ILT20Official) January 16, 2024
Players will vie for top prizes and performances in a World Cup year in the second-richest franchise league in cricket. Yet the league will see if the real men of the series will turn up or not – the fans in the UAE. Gulf Giants and Desert Vipers played in the final of the inaugural season when there were lots of blind spots, understandably. And the captains of both sides also addressed the issue in their own ways of responding to questions about the league at the tournament press conference in Dubai on Thursday.
The Giants’ Chris Lynn, representing captain James Vince, said: “This is a great tournament at great venues. What we would like to see here is though, the fans to come out in large numbers. And the onus is on us players mostly to put on a show that can compel them to visit the stadiums and be entertained by us.”
The League has pulled out stops in promoting the league at public venues like the Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, Dubai Mall and Global Village in Dubai and Zahia City Centre in Sharjah. Tickets and giveaways through promotions and offers have been conducted. On the technical side, a developing tournament and a competition for UAE schools were conducted with each franchise playing mentor to both events respectively. Rules have been changed to introduce wildcard entries and a Super Sub.
Yet, the best move from among the teams – five of them owned by Indian corporates or owners – in the lead-up came from the other franchise. Owned by the American family of Glazers, who also own Manchester United, the Desert Vipers moved quickly to get in the Pakistani players of Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and Adam Khan before going one more step ahead in Mohammed Amir, once the latter confirmed to Aletihad that he was not eyeing a comeback for Pakistan.
While the ILT20 has got all the nuts and bolts in place, the star names from India are missing since their board has a policy against it for current players.
With a large diaspora audience from the subcontinent, the Vipers thus will get the crowd advantage going behind them strongly. For added measure, the ILT20 announced Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan), Virender Sehwag (India) and just-retired David Warner (Australia) as the league’s brand ambassadors.
Speaking to a question on the impact players such as Afridi can bring on the flatter wickets in the UAE, the Vipers captain Colin Munro said: “I agree the format is tough on the bowlers, but for people of the class of Afridi, it doesn’t matter. And he is experienced enough to adapt and create pressure with his swing and accurate bowling.”
Shadab Khan is the most successful bowler for Pakistan in the T20 format, and the duo are forces to reckon with, according to Vipers coach James Foster.
Meanwhile, the fact that the Pakistan players are also part of Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League, which follows next, prompted Munro to say: “There is a joke in our dressing room that we should be named Desert United. As a franchise, too, we are trying to grow around the world so it is good to have them here.”
Munro also highlighted the fact behind the rising popularity of the ILT20 among players at least with each squad comprising four UAE players and one from an Associate member nation. “In the playing XI, it is a nice mix of two UAE players and nine overseas players so that makes it really a big international appeal and that is what makes it interesting.”
The first season also brought up some fault lines within some teams and everyone has taken steps to correct that. Sunil Narine has the most trickiest one since his Abu Dhabi Knight Riders took the wooden spoon. He promised that “the issues have been identified and they will be taking one step at a time”. The other team to miss out from the play-offs were Sharjah Warriors, who have now put faith in the untested Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
Yet, the biggest change remains to be seen if the efforts on and off the pitch will materialise into more numbers at the turnstiles.
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