Dubai: UAE’s new star-hunt programme is set to give aspiring players the opportunity to stake their claim in the second edition of the DP World ILT20 League, to be held in January next year.
The inaugural edition of the ILT20 Development Tourmament, which begins at the ICC Academy Grounds on September 30, A total of 90 players (15 per side) made it to the six squads via a Player Draft held earlier this week. The Six franchises of DP World ILT20 have retained 11 UAE players as part of their squads for Season 2.
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 (MI Emirates), Muhammad Jawadullah (Sharjah Warriors), Rohan Mustafa (Desert Vipers), Sanchit Sharma (Gulf Giants) and Zahoor Khan (MI Emirates). The rest of 82 players will be vying for 13 vacant spots on offer as each franchise need to have at least four UAE players.
Developing game in UAE
David White, Chief Executive Officer DP World ILT20, said: “We are delighted to launch the ILT20 Development Tournament. We have been very clear in our approach from the beginning and want to reiterate that the DP World ILT20 is all about developing the game in the UAE.
“The DP World ILT20 Season 1 provided a world-class platform to our players, besides our established stars, youngsters like Aayan Afzal Khan, Sanchit Sharma and Ali Naseer learned a great deal by rubbing shoulders with the best in the world and their progress since the last edition is a testament to the success of the league, especially from a development point of view.
Waseem at the helm
“I am sure that we will see some new stars emerge from the ILT20 Development Tournament this year and their performances will provide some fantastic selection options for our six DP World ILT20 franchises.”
UAE captain Muhammad Waseem will lead the ILT20 Marvels in the six-team ILT20 Development Tournament.
Besides Waseem at the helm for the Marvels, 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.
Coaches and support staff
Each team will play will play the other once for a total of five matches in the group stage. The top four sides at the end of the group stage will progress to the semi-finals. The final will be played on October 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.
ILT20 Development Tournament squads:
ILT20 Blitzers: Ali Abid (captain), Aryan Lakra, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan Dsouza, Fayyaz Ahmed, Jonathan Figgy, Junaid Siddique, Matiullah, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Kamran Atta, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Uzair Khan, Muhammad Zubair Khan, Usman Khan and Uzair Bacha.
ILT20 Braves: Muhammad Usman (captain), Abdul Ghaffar, Asif Khan, Hafiz Almas Ayub, Haider Ali, Hazrat Bilal, Hamdam Muhammad Tahir, Jash Giyanani, Junaid Shamsudheen, Irfanullah, Nasir Faraz, Qamar Awan, Rizwaan CP, Zeeshan Abid and Raees Ahmed.
ILT20 Dynamos: Karthik Meiyappan (captain), Ammar Badami, Fahad Nawaz, Hameedullah Khan, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Shahdad, Muhammad Umer, Osama Hassan Shah, Ronak Panoly, Samal Udawaththa, Sanchit Sharma, Taimoor Ali, Vikum Sanjaya and Zahoor Khan.
ILT20 Marvels: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ashwanth Valthapa, Basil Hameed, Danish Qureshi, Harshit Kaushik, Jeevan Gangadharan, Mayank, Muhammad Saghir Khan, Muhammad Zahid, Muhammad Zuhaib, Syed Haider Shah, Taimoor Bhatti and Uddish Suri.
ILT20 Pearls: Alishan Sharafu (captain), Abdul Shakoor, Adithya Shetty, Ali Anwaar, Aryansh Sharma, Khalid Shah, Harit Shetty, Lovepreet Singh, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Muhammad Rohid, Nilansh Keswani, Riaz Khaliq, Riyan Mohammed, Vriitya Aravind and Zawar Farid.
ILT20 Thunderbolts: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Ansh Tandon, Dawood Ejaz, Hassan Eisakhel, Luqman Hazrat, Rahul Bhatia, Rameez Shahzad, Maroof Mahmood Merchant, Muhammad Saad Ali, Muhammad Shahbaz Ali, Sagar Kalyan, Sandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Umair Ali Khan and Wasim Akram.
ILT20 Development Tournament Schedule:
September 30:
4:30pm: ILT20 Blitzers vs ILT20 Marvels
8:30pm: ILT20 Dynamos vs ILT20 Pearls
October 1:
4:30pm: ILT20 Braves vs ILT20 Thunderbolts
8:30pm: ILT20 Pearls vs ILT20 Marvels
October 2:
4:30pm: ILT20 Braves vs ILT20 Dynamos
8:30pm: ILT20 Blitzers vs ILT20 Thunderbolts
October 3:
4:30pm: ILT20 Dynamos vs ILT20 Marvels
8:30pm: ILT20 Blitzers vs ILT20 Pearls
October 4:
Rest Day
October 5:
4:30pm: ILT20 Thunderbolts vs ILT20 Pearls
8:30pm: ILT20 Braves vs ILT20 Marvels
October 6:
4:30pm: ILT20 Blitzers vs ILT20 Dynamos
7:30pm: ILT20 Marvels vs ILT20 Thunderbolts
October 7:
7pm: ILT20 Blitzers vs ILT20 Braves
October 8:
4:30pm: ILT20 Thunderbolts vs ILT20 Dynamos
8:30pm: ILT20 Braves vs ILT20 Pearls
October 9:
4:30pm: First Semifinal
7:30pm: Second semifinal
October 10:
7pm: Final
