Who's who of West Indies' T20 stars have been retained by the six International League T20 (ILT20) franchises among 69 players ahead of the third edition of the United Arab Emirates franchise tournament. Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell were among the West Indies players to be retained for the 2025 edition of the ILT20 while Trent Boult, Shaheen Afridi and Ambati Rayudu were the big misses from the retention list.
Afridi is likely to play in The Hundred and hence might have pulled his name out as PCB allows their contracted players to play in just two leagues outside their own PSL. Imad Wasim was the other Pakistan player, who was released by his franchise, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. The defending champions MI Emirates have retained the biggest squad, of 14 players with Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kusal Perera and Andre Fletcher being the other names being retained.
David Warner is another big name retained by the Dubai Capitals, who too have stayed with most of their squad after making the final of ILT20 2024 including the likes of Sam Billings, Sikandar Raza, Jake Fraser-McGurk and Powell. Russell and Narine headline the ADKR line-up with Jason Roy opting out.
The Desert Vipers apart from the Pakistani duo of Azam and Amir, have retained a few heavyweights including Sherfane Rutherford, Wanindu Hasaranga and Alex Hales while the inaugural champions Gulf Giants too have stayed with most of their side. Along with the overseas stars, all six teams have also stayed put with their two UAE players each.
Take a look at the full list of retentions:
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Aditya Shetty, Ali Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Andre Russell, Andries Gous, Charith Asalanka, David Willey, Joe Clarke, Laurie Evans, Micheal Pepper and Sunil Narine.
Desert Vipers: Adam Hose, Alex Hales, Ali Naseer, Azam Khan, Bas de Leede, Luke Wood, Micheal Jones, Mohammad Amir, Nathan Sowter, Sherfane Rutherford, Tanish Suri and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Dubai Capitals: 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: Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Chris Jordan, Dipendra Singh Airee, Gerhard Erasmus, Jamie Overton, James Vince, Jamie Smith, Jordan Cox, Mohammad Zohaib Zubair, Rehan Ahmed, Richard Gleeson and Shimron Hetmyer.
MI Emirates: 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 Warriors: Dilshan Madushanka, Johnson Charles, Junaid Siddique, Muhamad Jawadullah, Kusal Mendis, Luke Wells, Peter Hatzoglou and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
