David Warner, Mark Wood, Shadab Khan and Ambati Rayudu are among the major overseas players signed up for the second season of UAE's ILT20, starting January 13 next year. Warner and Wood, rivals at the Ashes recently, will team up at Dubai Capitals, while Shadab joins Pakistan team-mates Shaheen Shah Afridi and Azam Khan at Desert Vipers.
Rayudu, who retired from all Indian cricket after IPL 2023 and is currently playing in the CPL, has been signed up by MI Emirates, while Martin Guptill and Maheesh Theekshana will play for Sharjah Warriors alongside Lewis Gregory.
Apart from Warner and Wood, Capitals have also signed up Andrew Tye, Dasun Shanaka, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Sam Billings. Josh Little, Laurie Evans, Ravi Bopara and David Willey have been signed up by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman, part of Capitals last season, has moved to defending champions Gulf Giants. Qais Ahmed, meanwhile, has moved from Giants to Warriors.
Kusal Perera, Akeal Hosein and Corey Anderson have been drafted in by MI Emirates apart from Rayudu. They have also acquired up and coming Sri Lanka mystery spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.
USA's Saurabh Netravalkar and Noshtush Kenjige have been picked by Giants and MI Emirates respectively, while Bas de Leede and Roelof van der Merwe are the two Netherlands players in the mix, as part of Vipers and Capitals respectively. Scotland team-mates Chris Sole and Mark Watt will be part of Warriors while Brandon McMullen is part of Knight Riders.
The last stage of the squad-building process will involve selecting the UAE players.
The second season of the ILT20 will run more or less concurrently with the second season of the SA20 league in South Africa, and will overlap with the BBL, too. That aside, there's England's five-Test tour of India starting January 25, which could force players like Root and Wood to leave the ILT20 early.
The squads at this stage
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
New signings: Brandon McMullen, David Willey, Jake Lintott, Josh Little, Laurie Evans, Michael Pepper, Ravi Bopara and Sam Hain
Retentions: Ali Khan, Andre Russell, Charith Asalanka, Joe Clarke, Sabir Ali, Sunil Narine, Marchant de Lange and Matiullah Khan
Desert Vipers
New signings: Adam Hose, Azam Khan, Bas de Leede, Michael Jones, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Retentions: Alex Hales, Ali Naseer, Colin Munro, Dinesh Chandimal, Gus Atkinson, Luke Wood, Matheesha Pathirana, Rohan Mustafa, Sheldon Cottrell, Sherfane Rutherford, Tom Curran and Wanindu Hasaranga
Dubai Capitals
New signings: Andrew Tye, Dasun Shanaka, David Warner, Mark Wood, Max Holden, Mohammad Mohsin, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nuwan Thushara, Roelof van der Merwe, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Sam Billings
Retentions: Dushmantha Chameera, Joe Root, Raja Akif, Rovman Powell and Sikandar Raza
Gulf Giants
New signings: Dominic Drakes, Jordan Cox, Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Saurabh Netravalkar
Retentions: Aayan Afzal Khan, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan, Chris Lynn, Gerhard Erasmus, James Vince, Jamie Overton, Rehan Ahmed, Richard Gleeson, Sanchit Sharma and Shimron Hetmyer
MI Emirates
New signings: Akeal Hosein, Ambati Rayudu, Corey Anderson, Kusal Perera, Nosthush Kenjige, Odean Smith, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Waqar Salamkheil
Retentions: Andre Fletcher, Daniel Mousley, Dwayne Bravo, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jordan Thompson, Kieron Pollard, McKenny Clarke, Muhammad Waseem, Nicholas Pooran, Trent Boult, Will Smeed and Zahoor Khan
Sharjah Warriors
New signings: Chris Sole, Daniel Sams, Dilshan Madhushanka, James Fuller, Johnson Charles, Kusal Mendis, Lewis Gregory, Maheesh Theekshana, Mark Watt, Martin Guptill, Sean Williams and Qais Ahmed
Retentions: Chris Woakes, Joe Denly, Junaid Siddique, Mark Deyal, Muhammad Jawadullah and Tom Kohler-Cadmore