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It’s only two seasons old, and already the ILT20 has become a significant event on the cricket calendar. The third edition of the tournament will take place in UAE from January 11 to February 9, 2025.
That is a window that overlaps with Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia, SAT20 in South Africa and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) in Bangladesh. Despite that, each of the six teams in the ILT20 are filled with international stars. Each side has the mix of match-winners necessary to dream of lifting the trophy.
Who each side retained, and the players they picked to complete their squads gives an indication of the direction each team is thinking of. This year, with no drafts or auctions, each franchise signed players individually.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
They had an extremely potent core to retain, led by captain Sunil Narine and Andre Russell. Both are well-established legends in T20 cricket, who have shown across the world that they can power their teams to victory on their own performances alone.
They’ve got batting might in the retained Laurie Evans, Joe Clarke and Michael Pepper, while also adding the talents of Roston Chase for solidity.
They’ve strengthened their spin-bowling with the addition of Allah Ghazanfar and Gudakesh Motie. The mystery duo of Narine-Ghazanfar could wreak havoc.
The pace department is solid, Jason Holder joining the likes of David Willey and Ali Khan.
The Knight Riders finished last in 2023 and third in 2024. With their power-packed line-up, they look good to go even better in 2025.
Desert Vipers
They had some big-name retentions in Alex Hales, Sherfane Rutherford, Mohammad Aamir and Luke Wood, alongside the talented Bas de Leede. They’ll be led this year by new recruit Lockie Ferguson, in what is turning out to be a good few years to be a fast-bowling captain.
They’ve also added the explosiveness of Fakhar Zaman and the all-round skills of Wanindu Hasaranga, which makes their bowling attack look particularly menacing.
Given Rutherford’s T20 form and the proven pedigree of Hales and Zaman, that makes for a potent unit.
The Vipers finished runners up in 2023, but fell to fifth in 2024. They’ll be primed to rise from that position.
Dubai Capitals
David Warner leads their retention list, but there’s a whole lot of captaincy experience around him too, with Sam Billings, Rovman Powell, Gulbadin Naib and Sikandar Raza.
Partnering Warner at the top of the order will be the man many consider his successor: the born-for-T20 Jake Fraser-McGurk. Shai Hope has discovered his T20 spark too, and the Capitals’ batting looks mighty.
It’s definitely their stronger suit, although the likes of Dushmantha Chameera and Obed McCoy provide canny bowling experience too.
They’ve reached the playoffs in both years, finishing runners-up in 2024. Can they go one better this year?
Gulf Giants
They have an exciting, young squad, led by the calm James Vince. It’s a bit of a revamp, even though they were champions in 2023 and third in 2024, but they still look threatening.
Vince, Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Jordan, Dominic Drakes, Rehan Ahmed and Gerhard Erasmus were the only ones retained, but the addition of Jamie Smith, Ibrahim Zadran, Adam Lyth, Jamie Overton, Tymal Mills and Blessing Muzarabani among several other match-winners means they haven’t lost their edge.
MI Emirates
The defending champions could well be favourites to repeat their triumph. They’ve made the least amount of changes to their squad, and why would they need to change when they have as awe-inspiring a line-up as this: Nicholas Pooran, Kusal Perera, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akeal Hossein, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and the like.
And they’ve gone and added Tom Banton, Alzarri Joseph and Romario Shepherd among others.
They have a bevy of T20 legends and superstars, and should be lock-ins to make the playoffs. They finished third in 2023, but given the talent they have, they should aim to be in the final once again.
Sharjah Warriors
They have some talented batters with the likes of Jason Roy, Matthew Wade, Kusal Mendis and Bhanuka Rajapaksa recruited to the team led by Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
But it’s their bowling that should provide their main thrust. Gus Atkinson, who has taken international cricket by storm, joins them in an attack that has Adam Milne, Dilshan Madushanka, Daniel Sams and Adil Rashid. It’s an attack that has a perfect blend of experience, youth, attack and defence, and should test other teams plenty. Enough that the Warriors can think of bettering their previous showings: fifth in 2023 and sixth in 2024.
*These squads are accurate as of December 23, 2024. There could be replacements named for some players before the tournament starts.
(This story is authored by Saurabh Somani who is a Pondicherry-based freelance cricket writer. In his spare time, he watches the game anyway.)
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