Lockie Ferguson, Fakhar Zaman, Shai Hope, Romario Shepherd, Jason Roy and Ibrahim Zadran are among the T20 stars in line to make their debuts in the ILT20 after having been signed by various franchises for the third season of the six-team tournament in the UAE.
England allrounders Gus Atkinson and Tom Curran will return to the competition, having played for Desert Vipers in the first season. While Atkinson, who made his Test debut this year, will turn out for Sharjah Warriors, Curran will play for season-one winners Gulf Giants.
Ferguson, the New Zealand fast bowler who recently knocked back his national contract, has been signed up by Vipers. Ferguson was snapped up by Sydney Thunder on a US$360,000 platinum contract during the BBL draft, and it is understood he will be available for Thunder for the first half of the BBL until early January before he heads to the UAE to link up with Vipers for the ILT20, which will begin on January 11 and will clash with all of the BBL, SA20 and Super Smash (New Zealand's domestic T20 competition).
Ferguson's recent T20 form is encouraging. In June in Tarouba, he returned figures of 4-4-0-3, becoming only the second bowler to deliver four maidens in a T20I. Then, in the 2024 MLC, he was among the key bowlers for champions Washington Freedom, taking ten wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 7.26.
Ferguson will work with left-arm quicks Mohammad Amir and Luke Wood, who both were retained by Vipers. Pakistan batter Fakhar will also join Vipers.
Adam Milne, who also rejected a New Zealand central contract, will link up with Warriors. He will reunite with New Zealand team-mate Tim Seifert, who had recently turned down his domestic contract with Northern Districts to pursue franchise T20 opportunities at Warriors. Seifert is currently with Daren Sammy's St Lucia Kings in CPL 2024. He is then set to turn out for Melbourne Renegades - he has confirmed full availability for the next two BBL seasons - before joining Warriors at the ILT20. Seifert will miss at least a part of the Super Smash, and won't be in contention for the white-ball series against Pakistan over Christmas and New Year.
New Zealand fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn, who had also turned down a contract with Northern Districts at domestic level, will return to Dubai Capitals for the upcoming season. Hope, who made his IPL debut for Delhi Capitals earlier this year, will turn out for their affiliate Dubai in ILT20 2025. In the injury-enforced absence of Imran Tahir, Hope is captaining Guyana Amazon Warriors in the ongoing CPL.
Joe Burns, the former Australia batter who has now moved to Italy, is among Capitals' new signings. The franchise has also invested in Garuka Sanketh, the 19-year-old Sri Lankan slinger who was with Delhi Capitals as a net bowler in IPL 2024. Sanketh's release point is believed to be slightly higher than that of Matheesha Pathirana, who worked with Sanketh at Colombo Strikers in LPL 2024.
Sanketh, however, is largely untested in T20 cricket, having played just nine games so far while picking up six wickets at an economy rate of just under ten.
As for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, they will welcome familiar faces Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, who was part of Kolkata Knight Riders' title-winning squad during IPL 2024, and Terrance Hinds, who is currently in action for Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL.
Ghazanfar, 18, is an Afghanistan mystery spinner who can bowl with the new ball and across phases in T20 cricket. A day before he was unveiled as Knight Riders' new ILT20 signing, he triggered a South Africa collapse in Sharjah with figures of 10-2-20-3 in an ODI. West Indians Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie will also join Hinds at ADKR.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim, who was the highest run-getter at the T20 World Cup 2024, and Wahidullah Zadran, an uncapped mystery spinner from Paktia, were among Gulf Giants' latest signings. Wahidullah, who is only 16, is a spinner in the mould of Mujeeb Ur Rahman. He was recognised as the best bowler in the Qosh Tepa National T20 Cup 2024 in Afghanistan.
At MI Emirates, Shepherd will reunite with West Indian T20 stalwarts Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo. Shepherd has also played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and MI New York in the MLC. Itay's Thomas Draca, who played for Brampton Wolves in the Global T20 Canada 2024, will also work with Shepherd at MI Emirates.
The third season of the ILT20 is scheduled to be played in 2025 from January 11 to February 9 in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
New signings: Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Gudakesh Motie, Hassan Khan, Roston Chase and Terrance Hinds
Retentions: Aditya Shetty, Ali Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Andre Russell, Andries Ghous, Charith Asalanka, David Willey, Joe Clarke, Laurie Evans, Michael Pepper and Sunil Narine
Desert Vipers
New signings: Dan Lawrence, David Payne, Fakhar Zaman, Lockie Ferguson and Max Holden
Retentions: Adam Hose, Alex Hales, Ali Naseer, Azam Khan, Bas de Leede, Luke Wood, Michael Jones, Mohammad Amir, Nathan Sowter, Sherfane Rutherford, Tanish Suri and Wanindu Hasaranga
Dubai Capitals
New signings: Adam Rossington, Brandon McMullen, Garuka Sanketh, Gulbadin Naib, Jeffrey Vandersay, Joe Burns, Joe Weatherley, Najibullah Zadran, Obed McCoy, Scott Kuggeleijn, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Shai Hope
Retentions: Dasun Shanaka, David Warner, Dushmantha Chameera, Haider Ali, Raja Akif, Rovman Powell, Sam Billings, Sikandar Raza, Zahir Khan, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Oliver Stone
Gulf Giants
New signings: Adam Lyth, Dominic Drakes, Daniel Worrall, Ibrahim Zadran, Mark Adair, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills and Wahidullah Zadran
Retentions: Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Jordan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gerhard Erasmus, Jamie Overton, James Vince, Jamie Smith, Jordan Cox, Mohammad Zuhaib Zubair, Rehan Ahmed, and Shimron Hetmyer
MI Emirates
New signings: Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton, Fareed Ahmad, Thomas Jack Draca, Ben Charlesworth
Retentions: Akeal Hosein, Andre Fletcher, Daniel Mousley, Dwayne Bravo, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jordan Thompson, Kieron Pollard, Kusal Perera, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Muhammad Waseem, Nicholas Pooran, Nosthush Kenjige, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Waqar Salamkheil
Sharjah Warriorz
New signings: Adam Milne, Adil Rashid, Ashton Agar, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Daniel Sams, Gus Atkinson, Harmeet Singh, Jason Roy, Karim Janat, Keemo Paul, Matthew Wade, Virandeep Singh and Tim Seifert
Retentions: Dilshan Madushanka, Johnson Charles, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah, Kusal Mendis, Luke Wells, Peter Hatzoglou and Tom Kohler-Cadmore