ILT20 Franchises announce their retentions. Ghazanfar retained; Hales, Livingstone among new signings this seasons.
Rovman Powell, Shai Hope, and Gulbadin Naib have been retained by the reigning champions Dubai Capitals for the forthcoming ILT20 season in the United Arab Emirates. For the tournament’s fourth season, they have also added UAE left-arm seamer Muhammad Jawadullah, England left-arm quick Luke Wood, and Afghanistan wristspinner Waqar Salamkheil.
Chris Woakes and Kamindu Mendis are MI Emirates’ new faces, in addition to keeping Afghanistan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar, Romario Shepherd, and Muhammad Waseem.
The 31-year-old UAE native Waseem is a six-hitting powerhouse. In 72 T20I innings, he has smashed 165 sixes; the only players to hit more sixes in the format are Martin Guptill (173) and Rohit Sharma (205).
The USA wicketkeeper-batter Andries Gous, who is now playing for the Washington Freedom in the MLC 2025, was added to the squad of the Desert Vipers, the runners-up from the previous season. The players that the Vipers kept for the next season were Dan Lawrence, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sam Curran, and Lockie Ferguson.
Liam Livingstone, Sherfane Rutherford, and Alex Hales have given the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, who placed last in the six-team league the previous season, extra strength.
The 36-year-old Hales has almost 500 T20 matches under his belt and has amassed 13,756 runs with a strike rate of 145.28. He is on the verge of overtaking Chris Gayle (14562) as the top scorer in T20 cricket.
Earlier this year, the former England opener turned down a deal with Nottinghamshire to play for the Knight Riders’ teams in the 2025 MLC and 2025 CPL. Hales has been engaged in franchise leagues worldwide despite having retired from international cricket in 2023.
In order to avoid the crowded January-February window and to conclude well ahead of the men’s T20 World Cup, which will take place in February and March, the next ILT20 has been moved to a December-January window.
According to an ILT20 announcement, the six organisations will complete their squads through a player auction; specifics will be revealed soon.