MI Emirates, the sister franchise of Mumbai Indians in the UAE T20 league, has released the names of the 14 players that they have managed to acquire for the first season and the list includes some of the big names of world cricket.
The New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult, who had recently requested New Zealand Cricket (NZC) to free him from the central contract has signed a deal with the MI Emirates and is the only Kiwi cricketer to feature in the squad.
The MI Emirates squad, apart from Trent Boult, has got the services of Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Dwayne Bravo, and Andre Fletcher as well. While Bravo and Pollard are retired international cricketers and work as T20 freelancers, Fletcher doesn’t have a central contract with Windies cricket.
Nicholas Pooran is, however, a surprising name in the list because he is currently the captain of Windies T20 international side, and Windies are supposed to play a T20 international series against Pakistan in January when the UAE T20 league will be taking place. It remains to be seen if Pooran misses that series or will be only partially available for the MI Emirates.
As far as cricketers from England are concerned, three of them have signed, but none of them is centrally contracted to England Cricket Board (ECB). Samit Patel, one of the most experienced cricketers in the T20 circuit, Will Smeed, who is emerging through the ranks in English cricket at the moment, and Jordan Thompson, another young, promising fast bowler, are the three names from England.
The MI Emirates has also picked plenty of cricketers from smaller cricketing countries. The squad has three names from Afghanistan, one from Scotland, and one from the Netherlands.
MI Emirates get Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran & Trent Boult on board for UAE T20 league.
"Striking a balance between experience & investing in young players is the key," says Akash Ambani.
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) August 12, 2022
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Here are the names of the 14 members of the MI Emirates squad which will be featuring in the inaugural edition of the UAE T20 league:
Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Fletcher, Dwayne Bravo (all West Indies), Trent Boult (New Zealand), Samit Patel, Will Smeed, Jordan Thomspon (all England), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Najibullah Zadran, Zahir Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi (all Afghanistan), Bradley Wheal (Scotland), Bas de Leede (Netherlands)
Representing @MIEmirates at the IL T20 🇦🇪
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— MI Emirates (@MIEmirates) August 12, 2022
