The inaugural edition of the International League T20 in UAE, set to be launched in January next year, may have lost Australian maverick David Warner but will not be short of star power, with the likes of Andre Russell, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali and Wanindu Hasaranga declaring their services open.
The four players are part of the first set of 21 players who have signed up for the league which is backed up by financially powerful Indian Premier League corporate giants. The six-team competition also has Shimron Hetmyer, Chris Jordan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman available in this “first set”, apart from Sunil Narine, Dawid Malan, Colin Munro, Evin Lewis and Fabian Allan, among others.
No cricketer from India, Bangladesh and Australia is part of the first set of players available for signing, with cricket boards in Bangladesh and Australia aiming to protect their respective T20 leagues that will have their next editions held in the same January-February window. BCCI has maintained its longstanding stance of not allowing any active international Indian cricketer to take part in a league other than the IPL.
That, even as the ILT20 has all its teams owned by IPL franchises Reliance Industries, Kolkata Knight Riders, Capri Global, GMR, Lancer Capital and Adani Sportsline. Each franchise will have the chance to exercise the “direct acquisition” rights with the aim to secure their preferred choice of players following one-on-one discussions.
“Over the past weeks, ILT20’s six franchises have started discussions and engaged with players, and players’ agents, to exercise their ‘Direct Acquisition’ rights,”
ILT20 chairman Khalid Al Zarooni said in a statement.
The ILT20 is different from most other leagues in the world that are focused on enabling the growth of home-grown players in respective countries. The tournament will follow a unique 9-2 combination in their first-choice playing XIs, with franchises allowed to field as many as nine overseas stars at a time and only two players from the United Arab Emirates.
Teams will have to compile a squad of 18 players minimum, with two from associate countries other than UAE, who will have four representatives each in all six teams.
The process of finalising players and slotting them into respective teams will begin after an extensive list of signings is announced in the coming week.
