We&rsquo;ve got no time to waste. Let&rsquo;s get to business RIGHT AWAY!What&rsquo;s made the headlines?IT&rsquo;S HAPPENED &mdash; WPL IS A REALITY! <img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888288066-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">I know me, you and everyone else love to rip into the BCCI the first opportunity we get (frankly, why not?) but this week, it is only fair that we set our agenda aside.Thanks to the BCCI, the <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/mi-rcb-and-dc-confirmed-as-ipl-franchises-to-have-w-ipl-representation-1674640221608" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WOMEN&rsquo;S PREMIER LEAGUE IS NOW A REALITY!</a>The bidding process for the five WPL teams took place in Mumbai on Wednesday and, in total, the board managed to sell the franchises off for a record sum of INR 4669.99 crore 🤑🤑🤑RCB, MI and DC fans, rejoice &mdash; you can cheer for YOUR FAVORITE IPL team in the WPL too (if you want, that is).CSK and KKR fans, my condolences as the other two franchises have been bought by the Adani Group (Ahmedabad, 1289 crore) and Capri Global (Lucknow, 757 crore).&nbsp;Yeah, this WPL franchise sale has broken the internet because what&rsquo;s just happened is truly unprecedented and ABSOLUTELY BONKERS!&nbsp;A watershed moment in women&rsquo;s sport in the country, and perhaps the world.U19 cricket, YOU BEAUTY!<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888358173-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> Mark your calendars, folks: Sunday, January 29 is the day. India and England will lock horns with each other as both sides eye becoming the inaugural ICC Women&rsquo;s U19 WC champion.The Indian side, led by Shafali Verma, have breezed their way through to the final but England? We need to talk about England and what they did in the semi-final against arch-rivals Australia.To quote good ol&rsquo; Pommie Mbangwa, they were dead and half-buried. They were bundled out for 99 and, in response, Australia were at one point 48/3.&nbsp;Eventually, though, they triumphed by 3 runs!&nbsp;Revenge successfully taken for what Australia did to them in the Men&rsquo;s U19 WC 5 years ago (heck, I feel old) when Lloyd Pope (oh yeah, remember him?) took 8/35 and helped his side defend 127.JADDU IS BACK &mdash; WITH A BANG! 💥💥💥<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888406405-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> Ravindra Jadeja returned to professional cricket for the first time since August and it did not take long for Jaddu to start doing Jaddu things. On a surface tailor-made for him in Chepauk, the 34-year-old marked his comeback with a seven-fer (7/53) against TN in the second innings. Saurashtra still went on to lose the game, but OUTSTANDING NEWS for India ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.SKY scripts history; Renuka caps off dream year with deserved accolade<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888470231-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">&nbsp;On the field, Suryakumar Yadav has been shattering records left, right and center but he&rsquo;s now started to do it off the field too. Earlier this week, he became the FIRST EVER INDIAN TO WIN THE ICC T20I CRICKETER OF THE YEAR AWARD! &nbsp;The awards didn&rsquo;t stop there for India as Renuka Singh was named the ICC Emerging Women&#39;s Cricketer of the Year. On the Men&rsquo;s side, the award went to Marco Jansen.ICC&rsquo;s decision to name Ben Stokes the Test cricketer of the year did not go down well with everyone, but no one had any complaints with Babar Azam winning both the ODI Cricketer of the year and Men&rsquo;s Cricketer of the Year award.What (else) has been happening on the field?International cricket (Men)<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888553105-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> &gt; After getting battered in the ODIs, the Kiwis have responded well in the T20Is, beating India by 21 runs to go 1-0 up in the series. Ranchi dished out a rank turner and Mitch Santer said thank you very much.&gt; South Africa came back from the dead in Bloemfontein to stun England and keep their hopes of automatic WC qualification alive. Thanks to a Rassie ton, the Proteas had posted 298 but England were cruising at one point at 146/0.&nbsp;Jason Roy finally found some form as he smashed a 91-ball 113. However, the visitors collapsed spectacularly; they lost their last 10 wickets for 125 runs to end up losing the contest by 27 runs. Make that 7 defeats in 9 ODIs for England.&gt; And oh, Jofra Archer&rsquo;s international comeback was a forgettable one. A 80% fit Archer was taken apart by the Proteas: 10-0-81-1.&gt; Zimbabwe and Ireland shared the spoils in the ODI series after the decider in Harare got abandoned. A tame end to the series as Ireland did really well to level the series after a stinging loss in the first game.Domestic cricket<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888656085-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> So, the Ranji quarter-finalists have been decided and Hanuma Vihari&rsquo;s Andhra are among the final eight. But how they got there is just&hellip;&hellip;.. &nbsp;Not able to put that into words, really.&nbsp;Heading into the final round of group games, the following had to happen for Andhra to make it through to the QFs:&nbsp;- They had to beat Assam with a bonus point- Both Mumbai and Maharashtra needed to NOT take a first innings lead in their respective matchesBoth things happened; Andhra went through.&nbsp;You know why it&rsquo;s crazy? Because Mumbai and Maharashtra PLAYED EACH OTHER!&nbsp;Somehow, both teams EXACTLY SCORED 384 in the first innings, meaning no first-innings lead point for either side.&nbsp;Cricket is truly the gift that keeps giving!&nbsp;Either way, the QF line-up is as follows&nbsp;&gt; Karnataka vs Uttarakhand&gt; Saurashtra vs Punjab&gt; Bengal vs Jharkhand&nbsp;&gt; Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra&nbsp;International Cricket (Women)<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888728119-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> &gt; It&rsquo;s 5/5 for Australia as after wrapping up the ODIs 3-0, they&rsquo;ve taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series against Pakistan. It&rsquo;s been an absurdly lop-sided tour thus far; Pakistan haven&rsquo;t even come close to competing.&gt; India and South Africa have both sealed their spots in the final of the ongoing tri-series. The Women in Blue began with a 27-run victory over the hosts and backed it up with a 56-run thrashing of the Windies. South Africa slipped up against India but they, too, rinsed West Indies, hammering the Hayley Matthews-led side by 10 wickets.&nbsp;India and South Africa, as a result, will clash in the final on February 2nd. They&rsquo;ll have a dress-rehearsal before that, later today at Buffalo Park.Franchise cricket<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674888810293-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> It&rsquo;s been a surprisingly quiet week in Franchise Cricket. While SA20 is on a eight-day break due to the England-South Africa ODIs, ILT20 has been disrupted by rain. As many as three matches have been washed out due to heavy rains in both Dubai and Sharjah ( yep, BELIEVE IT!), meaning we&rsquo;ve not had any action since Tuesday, January 24th.&nbsp;The BBL, though, is ongoing and the KNOCKOUTS HAVE BEGUN! &nbsp;On Friday, Brisbane Heat knocked the Sydney Thunder out in the Eliminator in controversial fashion (read: through DLS).The showdown between Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers will happen later today in Perth while on Sunday, the Renegades will take on Brisbane Heat in the &lsquo;Knockout&rsquo; to decide who progresses to the &lsquo;Challenger&rsquo;.Nevertheless, you can read our<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/a-break-from-all-the-pandemonium-as-sa20-takes-a-week-off-1674821284169" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;SA20 recap here</a>, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/smiths-successive-innings-of-destruction-lights-up-last-week-of-bbl-12-1674751286985" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBL recap here</a>, and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/roots-return-to-t20s-hales-agony-and-joy-powell-pollard-moment-and-more-1674658339154" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ILT20 recap here</a>.Articles in focusIt&rsquo;s been a hell of a week in Cricket, and it&rsquo;s been a hell of a week at CDC too. Endless quality content that you simply don&rsquo;t wanna miss out on!&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/womens-premier-league-a-win-for-the-past-the-present-and-the-future-1674712377792" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Women&rsquo;s Premier League - A win for the past, the present, and the future</a> (Gaurav Nandan Tripathi)<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/rashid-khans-dash-towards-500-wickets-1674814669388" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rashid Khan&rsquo;s dash towards 500 T20 wickets</a> (Anirudh Kasargod and Shubh Aggarwal)<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/rohit-sharma-ditches-old-odi-template-to-add-new-dimension-to-indias-batting-1674575891015" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit ditches old ODI template to add new dimension to India&#39;s batting</a> (Anirudh Suresh)<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/growing-old-with-a-regular-dose-of-basant-mohanty-1674887080865" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Basant Mohanty - Odisha&#39;s unassuming superstar</a> (Bastab K Parida)And finally, a couple of exclusive interviews to sate your appetite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/mark-watts-journey-from-football-to-dont-bowl-slot-1674466808149" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Watt&rsquo;s journey from football to &lsquo;don&rsquo;t bowl slot&rsquo;</a> (Pramod Ananth)<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/no-better-time-than-now-for-uae-cricketers-karthik-meiyappan-on-countrys-rapid-rise-1674726270251" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">No better time than now for UAE cricketers: Karthik Meiyappan on country&rsquo;s rapid rise</a> (Aakash Sivasubramaniam)Watch this <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/og7E2o0sR6M" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

In this newsletter, we take you through all important cricket updates, providing a one-stop destination to satiate the cricket nerd in you

Ravindra Jadeja

Hanuma Vihari

Jason Roy

Suryakumar Yadav

Renuka Singh

New Zealand tour of India, 2023

Big Bash League, 2022/23

SA20 League, 2023

International League T20, 2023

ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup, 2023

England tour of South Africa, 2023

India

Australia

The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 15

We rewind all the big moments from the first half of ILT20's maiden league stage season

Alex Hales

Tom Kohler-Cadmore

Naveen-ul-Haq

Najibullah Zadran

Dwayne Bravo

Kieron Pollard

Rovman Powell

Andre Russell

Joe Root

Rehan Ahmed

Desert Vipers

Dubai Capitals

Gulf Giants

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders

MI Emirates

Sharjah Warriors

Root's return to T20s, Hales' agony and joy, Powell-Pollard moment and more

More than his bowling, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64635/mark-watt/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Watt</a> made headlines for whipping out a piece of paper in the middle of a World Cup match that read, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t bowl slot.&rdquo;&nbsp;Playing in two World Cups in this day and age may not be considered a huge deal, given that there&rsquo;s one every other year, but for Watt, who took to the game only when he was 14-15, it is a dream come true.&nbsp;He could have forged a successful career in football and turned up for either Spartans or Leith Athletic in Scotland, but a knee injury resulted that he could no longer persist with his first love. Football&rsquo;s loss was cricket&rsquo;s gain, as has now gone on to play over 100 games for Scotland, picking up more than 120 wickets, and the best part is that he is just getting started.An Arsenal fan, Watt would have certainly been among the millions of fans across the globe who cheered when Eddie Nketiah scored a 90th-minute winner against Manchester United on Sunday (January 22) that saw the Gunners go five points clear at the top of the Premier League.Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/associate-nations-leave-a-mark-in-an-unforgettable-2022-1672477080043" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Associate nations leave a mark in an unforgettable 2022</a>The predicament for Watt though is that he is currently in the UAE playing for Desert Vipers in the International T20 (ILT20), a team owned by Avram Glazer &ndash; a majority stakeholder at Manchester United!As a football fan, Watt reckons it&rsquo;s pretty cool to be playing for a cricket team owned by someone who owns such a big football club.&ldquo;I don&#39;t think it matters too much. I think it&#39;s pretty cool that football owners have signed on for cricket. They&#39;re doing the right thing. I&#39;m an Arsenal fan. Hopefully, the owners don&#39;t make it too awkward [laughs]. The owners have been really good to us so far. We are grateful for that. Long may it continue. I&#39;m really enjoying it so far,&rdquo; Watt said in a chat with Cricket.com.A lot of Scotland&rsquo;s success at the international level has boiled down to the quality and the structure of their club cricket.&ldquo;There&#39;s a lot of young talent coming through in Scotland. We&#39;ve got a few young guys coming in for the squad for Nepal [next month]. That&#39;s really exciting. We&#39;re bringing young talent through Scotland A, and then Scotland development and the pro series and finally into the first team. It&#39;s really an exciting time. Club cricket in Scotland is getting better, the standard is improving, which is really exciting to see,&rdquo; Watt reckons.In 2021, Scotland won all three games in the first round of the T20 World Cup, including beating Bangladesh, to make the Super 12. It seemed as though that would be the case once again in 2022, especially after they saw off West Indies &ndash; the two-time champions &ndash; with ease.Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/spirited-scotland-light-up-t20-world-cup-once-again-1665999872468" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spirited Scotland light up T20 World Cup once again</a>However, things did not go according to plan against Ireland and Zimbabwe, and it resulted in a heartbreak for the Scottish side, who were looking to make it to the next round for the second time in a row. Scotland played just one T20I the whole year ahead of the T20 World Cup, and Watt points that out as a potential reason for his side not being able to get the job done in crunch matches.&ldquo;It was massively disappointing. Still don&#39;t feel 100% over it, to be honest. We had such a great start against West Indies, but we sadly couldn&#39;t pull through against Ireland or Zimbabwe,&rdquo; the left-arm spinner said.&ldquo;I think that comes down to playing only one T20I game throughout the whole year in preparation for that game. If we had played four or five more games throughout the year, we would have more experience, and you are able to close out those games and learn from your mistakes, but we were thrown into the deep end by playing those games only at the World Cup.&nbsp;&ldquo;It makes it a lot tougher, but that is the life of an associate player, sadly. Hopefully, we can get a few more fixtures before such tournaments.&rdquo;Watt and the county taleWatt has had the opportunity of working with some top coaches &ndash; none more so than Shane Burger &ndash; who recently quit as Scotland&#39;s head coach to take up a role at Somerset.&nbsp;&ldquo;Shane has been brilliant for our team. He is a cool, calm and collected character and he has been really good with our team. He has taken us to another level which is all we could ask for. He has definitely moved us in the right direction. Massive thank you goes out to Shane and the support staff. I wish him all the best. I think it&#39;s a really good opportunity he&#39;s got down at Somerset,&rdquo; the 26-year-old said.&nbsp;Not to forget, the left-arm spinner also works closely with the coveted coach Mickey Arthur at Derbyshire. &ldquo;Mickey is unbelievable. He&#39;s a great coach. He&#39;s a great man-manager, and his love for the game is the most that I have ever seen. That&#39;s the main reason I wanted to stay,&rdquo; Watt said.&nbsp;&ldquo;We&#39;ve got a great team at Derby, and we&#39;re trying to get to new heights, and Mickey is the man to take us there. I am hoping this year is going to be a great year for all formats - 50-over, T20 and red-ball. We&#39;ve got a great squad. Mickey has been exceptional. Long may that continue.&rdquo;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674465884347-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Watt played first-class cricket for the first time in five years in 2022 when he played three fixtures - against Middlesex, Sussex and Durham. He looks to make the best of this opportunity in red-ball cricket to use those skills in white ball as well.&ldquo;Just figuring out how to get people out when time isn&#39;t an issue so they can keep batting,&rdquo; Watt said of skillsets that can be transferred to white-ball cricket.&nbsp;&ldquo;They&#39;re not coming after you, and you need to be smart in your plans and think about different ideas about how to get wickets. That&#39;s something I need to work on because I have not done it before for a good 3-4 years.&nbsp;&ldquo;But trying to do it in ODI cricket, trying to spin it more, try and get the slip involved and maybe the short-leg. That has certainly helped my white-ball skills and my bowling mentality of trying to pick up wickets all the time instead of just defending.&rdquo;Watt&rsquo;s way of wading through tough oversWatt is one of those rare breeds of spinners who thrives on bowling in the death overs in T20s. Over 25% of his wickets for Scotland in T20Is have come at the death and has conceded at 8.4 an over in the phase, which is more than acceptable. Not to forget, 33% of the deliveries he has bowled between overs 16-20 have been dots.&nbsp;He bowls them in such a way that it becomes for the batters to get under, and even though a majority of his deliveries may not result in wickets, they come in handy in terms of keeping the runs down. It certainly is not easy to execute such deliveries to precision on a consistent basis, but Watt says that it all comes down to practice.&ldquo;It&#39;s just practice. It&#39;s more like a mentality thing. I want to be bowling in the death, I want to be playing in the powerplay, I want all the tough overs,&rdquo; Watt said.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674466403728-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;I just think as a spinner, you shouldn&#39;t limit yourself to bowling in just the middle-overs. The best spinners in the world can bowl all formats and across all phases. Spin is one of the toughest things to hit, and I don&#39;t see why you shouldn&#39;t be able to bowl at the death. With my yorker skills, I just like to have a go-to ball where I know I can get the batter off strike.&nbsp;&ldquo;So, if I slam in a yorker and he gets it for one, and then I bowl it to someone else...then it&#39;s game on at the death. I feel it&#39;s tough to hit. It&#39;s just practice and a little consistency and a little help from the bowling coach as well.&rdquo;An ODI World Cup beckons Scotland?Scotland are well-placed in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 and are more or less assured of a place in the ODI World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe later this year. Their remaining four games in the tournament will be in Nepal in February that will also feature Namibia along with the hosts.Two teams from the Qualifiers will make the main draw in the 10-team mega event in India later this year. Watt is hopeful of getting some quality game time ahead of the qualifiers.&ldquo;We&#39;re playing really well in 50-over cricket. We&#39;ll definitely give it our all in Zimbabwe in the qualifiers, but we&#39;ve got another four games coming up after this tournament. So, I&#39;ll be ready for them - preparation for number 1 - playing in this tournament but also having to think about how I am going to go around bowling and batting and playing for Scotland in February,&rdquo; Watt, who is the leading wicket-taker for Scotland in the ICC CWC League 2 with 41 scalps at 20.14 said.&ldquo;It&#39;s exciting. We&#39;ve got four more games before the Zimbabwe tour with the qualifications. Hopefully, we can put in some strong performances in the build-up to that.&rdquo;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

In a chat with Cricket.com, the Scotland spinner talks about his journey, disappointment of T20 World Cup 2022, his deadly yorkers and more

Mark Watt

ICC CWC League 2, 2019-23

Scotland

Mark Watt’s journey from football to ‘don’t bowl slot’

DING DING! It&rsquo;s Saturday so you know what it means &mdash; IT&rsquo;S NEWSLETTER TIME!&nbsp;The proceedings last week were dominated by off-field controversies and news, but sanity has kinda been restored this time around, as on-field action is king once again.&nbsp;There&rsquo;s a lot to go through, but we&rsquo;ll try our best to keep you informed about EVERYTHING!&nbsp;WHAT&rsquo;S MADE THE HEADLINES?HISTORY-MAKER SHUBMAN GILL! 💯💯<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674279713338-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">Remember all those tweets which said Gill &lsquo;unfairly&rsquo; got the nod to be Rohit Sharma&rsquo;s partner in ODIs, over double-centurion Ishan Kishan? Yeah, he took those tweets personally. SICK of all the &lsquo;Kishan 200&rsquo; chatter, Gill decided to get a double-ton of his own and SHUT HIS HATERS UP!A player scoring a double-ton in ODIs doesn&rsquo;t feel thaaaat&nbsp;special anymore, but Gill&rsquo;s knock was BONKERS for two reasons: the second-best score in the innings was 34, and he got to his double-ton striking THREE CONSECUTIVE SIXES! Right, it does make you go &lsquo;WTF&rsquo;.En route, the double-hundred Gill broke a ton of records, but we&rsquo;ll just mention a couple of &lsquo;em.- Gill became the joint second-fastest to 1000 ODI runs, getting to the landmark in 19 innings.- Gill became the youngest-ever double-centurion in ODI history.A dream week for the 23-year-old!But Gill nearly got over-shadowed! 😧<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674279788771-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">Oh, but Gill&rsquo;s 208 was &lsquo;THIS CLOSE&rsquo; to not being the best knock of the game. Well, some would argue it still was the second-best knock of the contest.That was due to Michael Bracewell, who, from 131/6, NEARLY helped New Zealand single-handedly chase 350. Bracewell struck 140 off 78 balls, made a mockery of the Indian bowlers and nearly repeated what he did against Ireland last year.He played one of the greatest knocks, if not the greatest, in a losing cause in ODI.Bracewell, in the process, created history too: he became only the second man in ODI history (after MS Dhoni) to score two or more hundreds batting at No.7.&#39;Yea Chetan TALK NAH!&#39; 😡<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674280929902-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">No secret that Sarfaraz Khan was hurting inside, big time, after being overlooked for the Australia Tests (to accommodate a white-ball specialist in SKY) but like a good kid, he chose to let his bat talk. Indeed, in his first FC innings post the India snub, Sarfaraz smashed a counter-attacking 125 (in an innings where Mumbai were 66/4 at one point) and made his snub look even more ridiculous.Sarfaraz is no longer breaking the door down. There is no door left at this point; he is standing in the hallway waiting for the selectors to let him in. &lsquo;May I come in, Sir?&rsquo; vibes.Hashim Amla retires from all forms of cricket 😔<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674279867285-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">On Wednesday, January 18, Hashim Amla <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/hashim-amla-announces-retirement-from-all-forms-of-cricket-1674047818800" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced that he is retiring from all forms of cricket&nbsp;</a>with immediate effect. Amla retired from international cricket in 2019 but continued playing domestic cricket, representing Surrey. Such was the man&rsquo;s class that he averaged 47.46 in Surrey post-international retirement, striking 5 tons, the last of which came four months ago. Unsurprisingly, tributes poured in for the legendary Hash as soon as the news broke out!&nbsp;Steve Smith and Pujara will be batting together &mdash; BRACE YOURSELF!&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674279910417-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">Spare a thought for all the non-Sussex County bowlers. 2022 saw them get absolutely RINSED by Che Pujara, but in 4 months&rsquo; time, they&rsquo;ll have to deal with the double threat of Pujara AND Steve Smith.Yep, we&rsquo;re talking about THE STEVEN PETER DEVEREUX SMITH. He&rsquo;s just <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/sussex-sign-steve-smith-on-a-short-term-deal-ahead-of-ashes-1674131229145" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">signed a short-term deal with Sussex&nbsp;</a>to play three county matches as prep for the WTC Final and Ashes.What a thirsty prospect if you&rsquo;re a red-ball fanatic! 🥵Watershed moment for Women&rsquo;s cricket in India!&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674279958791-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">In a watershed moment for women&rsquo;s cricket in the country<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/viacom-18-wins-media-rights-for-womens-ipl-1673853808061" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">, Viacom 18 bagged the media rights&nbsp;</a>for the W-IPL for a period of five years (2023-27) for a whopping 951 crore. That is approximately 7.09 crore per game.&nbsp;Secretary of the BCCI, Jay Shah, labelled the deal &#39;a new dawn&rsquo;.What (else) has been happening on the field?International cricket (Men)<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674280064749-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">- We spoke about Gill, but another player who&rsquo;s been just as good for India is Mohammed Siraj. He took 4/46 in the first ODI vs the Kiwis to make it back-to-back four-fers; he is, on current form, arguably the best bowler in ODIs, having taken 32 wickets in his last 16 ODIs.- After winning the T20Is against Ireland 2-1, Zimbabwe started the ODI series off with a thrilling win. Zimbabwe needed 4 to win off the final ball, and that&rsquo;s when Clive Madande stepped up: he whipped Graham Hume through mid-wicket to collect the &lsquo;W&rsquo; for the hosts.- Shannon Gabriel is back in the scheme of things in Tests for the West Indies after 18 months. He&rsquo;s been picked for the two-Test series against Zimbabwe.- South Africa have named a 16-man squad for the three ODIs against England and well, there are no surprises; no Rickelton, no Jordan Hermann. Magala, leading wicket-taker in the domestic one-day cup, is the only &lsquo;fresh face&rsquo; if you can call him that.Domestic cricket- Sarfaraz scored a ton in the first innings, yep, but that couldn&rsquo;t stop Mumbai losing to Delhi in the Ranji Trophy for the first time in 41 years.- In Nagpur, meanwhile, Vidarbha created history by defending the LOWEST-EVER total in Ranji History. Chasing 72, Gujarat were bowled out for 54 as left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate took 6/17 in the fourth innings. Guess what? This is the venue that&rsquo;ll be hosting the first Test between India and Australia 👀- Mayank Agarwal FINALLY went big as he smashed 208 vs Kerala, his first in red-ball cricket since the 243 he scored against Bangladesh in late 2019.International and U19 cricket (Women)<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674280207778-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">- The tri-series between India, South Africa and West Indies is underway, and the first game saw the Women in Blue beat South Africa by 27 runs. The star of the night was 23-year-old Amanjot Kaur, who bagged the POTM award on debut thanks to a sensational 41* down the order.- Pakistan women have been absolutely humbled by Australia in the first two matches of the three-match ODI series, with the hosts following up an 8-wicket win in the first with a 10-wicket thrashing in the second. The star in both matches? 19-year-old Phoebe Litchfield, playing her first two international matches, scored 78* and 67* opening the batting.&nbsp;- In the first-ever Women&rsquo;s U19 WC, meanwhile, India have been super-dominant thus far, winning 3/3. But the tournament has already seen its fair share of upsets, with Bangladesh triumphing over Australia and Rwanda registering a sensational victory over Zimbabwe.&nbsp;Franchise cricket<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674280287774-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">As many as four leagues are going on simultaneously so it&rsquo;ll be impossible for us to summarize all leagues and do justice to the same in a point or two. Which is precisely why we have in-depth round-ups for SA20 <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/from-brevis-setting-the-tone-to-jansen-going-berserk-sa20-serves-a-week-to-remember-1674118419769" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(which you can check out here</a>) and the BBL <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/steve-smith-lights-up-the-bbl-like-we-all-expected-him-to-not-1673980269991" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">(which you can check out here</a>).Something that you won&rsquo;t find in the BBL round-up (because the news is super fresh) is that <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/dan-christian-set-to-retire-after-the-conclusion-of-ongoing-bbl-season-1674269687482" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dan Christian has announced he&rsquo;ll be retiring from all cricket&nbsp;</a>at the end of the ongoing BBL season. Arguably the single most important figure in BBL history, it&rsquo;d be fitting if Christian bows out with a title for the Sixers.The ILT20 has kicked off too and guess what? Robin Uthappa, as things stand, is in the top three run-getters. Uthappa began the tournament with a fluent 43 in the curtain-raiser against ADKR and then turned up the heat in the next encounter against Gulf Giants, smacking a 46-ball 79.&nbsp;But the stand-out performers overall (bat and ball) CLEARLY have been two Englishmen, James Vince and Alex Hales. Vince and Hales have both scored 50+ runs in every innings in which they&rsquo;ve batted (Vince 224 runs in 3; Hales 257 runs in 3) and on Friday, Hales smashed the first ton in ILT20 history, against ADKR.&nbsp;It is no coincidence that Hales&rsquo; side (Desert Vipers) and Vince&rsquo;s side (Gulf Giants) are #1 and #2 in the table, respectively, both boasting a 100% record. &nbsp;And oh, in case you haven&rsquo;t seen it already, the ILT20 is dishing out WWE-Esque belts for the top performers. ARAMCO Orange / Purple cap is no longer the coolest toy in town!&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674280439201-articleimg" style="width: 800px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">In the Bangladesh Premier League, meanwhile, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shakib Al Hasan, on Thursday, scripted arguably the most sensational turnaround in T20 history. Fortune Barishal were at one point 46/4 from 5.4 overs, only to finish with 238/4 at the end of their quota of 20 overs. Iftikhar (100* off 45) and Shakib (89* off 43) added a stunning 192 runs for the fifth wicket.&nbsp;Articles in focus<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/gill-dominates-records-but-it-is-michael-who-braceswell-1674064459310" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gill dominates records, but it is Michael who Braceswell</a>A wild night in Hyderabad saw the fans witness two all-time great knocks in the span of eight hours. Aakash takes us through that wild night which, let&rsquo;s be honest, has not sunk in yet.<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/the-rise-and-rise-of-amanjot-kaur-1674192974173" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amanjot Kaur - Living a father&#39;s dream</a>Had Harmanpreet Kaur been fit enough to play, Amanjot would have neither made her debut nor the headlines. But as it turned out, the 23-year-old came, saw and conquered South Africa on debut as she bagged the Player of the Match award. Shweta runs us through what was an unforgettable day in young Amanjot&rsquo;s life.We have some fantastic &lsquo;On this day&rsquo; pieces this week too, whether it be <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/nasser-hussains-sweetest-memory-that-turned-out-to-be-a-scam-1674016164689" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shubh narrating how Nasser Hussain&rsquo;s sweetest memory&nbsp;</a>turned out to be a scam, or <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/when-pant-and-gill-saw-australia-at-gabba-mate-1674098688780" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Somesh recollecting THAT day at the Gabba.&nbsp;</a>Watch this <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jB2yfOoreqI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Shubman Gill

Michael Bracewell

Steven Smith

Cheteshwar Pujara

Sarfaraz Khan

Amanjot Kaur

Ranji Trophy, 2022/23

Bangladesh Premier League, 2023

The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 14

Rashid Khan

Prithvi Shaw

Dwaine Pretorius

Dewald Brevis

Australia tour of India, 2023

New Zealand tour of Pakistan, 2023

Afghanistan

South Africa

The Cricket.com Weekly - Edition 13

The International League T20 (ILT20), a much-needed T20 league franchise that has lured many top players and coaches across the globe is all set to kick start on Friday (January 13). While there has been a rise in the games played by associate nations in the last couple of years, thanks to the T20 World Cup and also the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, there are plenty of talented players from these non-traditional sides who go unnoticed. The ILT20 therefore aims to bridge that gap.While the tournament may not have an official T20 status given that it is being hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) of the UAE &ndash; an associate nation &ndash; that has not stopped it from attracting many renowned faces in world cricket.The only rule in the tournament is that a playing XI should contain at least two players from the associate nation, but one of them must be from the UAE. The remaining nine players can be from any country.With that, let&rsquo;s take a closer look at the teams:MI EmiratesCaptain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3910/kieron-pollard/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kieron Pollard</a>Coach: Shane BondThe MI Emirates owned by the Reliance Industries that also owns the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Mumbai Indians has once again gone all out in recruiting some of the best talents available. Their focus even in the IPL has always been on the core that got them so much success, and by the looks of it they intend to do the same here.They have the experienced Kieron Pollard leading them along with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3556/dwayne-bravo/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dwayne Bravo</a>, who with 614 wickets is the leading wicket-taker in the format. You also throw in the likes of Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Fletcher, Imran Tahir and Samit Patel, the experience MI have at their dispose is enviable.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673498377789-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Despite having Tahir, Samit and Afghanistan&rsquo;s Zahir Khan seem to be the only three frontline spin options for the Emirates, which may not be ideal, but they are not short of power-hitters down the order with the likes of Pollard, Jordan Thompson, Tom Lamonby, Dan Mousley among others who strike at over 140.Not to forget, they have variety in every section &ndash; be it right-arm pace, left-arm pace, spin department, finishers etc. They are spoilt for choices.Associate players to look out for:MI perhaps have three of the best UAE players at their disposal &ndash; opener Mohammad Waseem, who scored at a strike-rate of 143.4 last year, Zahoor Khan (18 wickets, Econ 7.1 in 2022) and also the national team vice-captain and wicketkeeper Vriitya Aravind (536 runs @ SR of 122 in 2022).Other than UAE, MI have <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67717/bas-de-leede/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bas de Leede</a> had a terrific 2022. in which he scored 382 runs at 108.5 and with the ball, he managed to crank a few up to 140 KMPH, picking up 23 wickets at 12 to go with an economy rate of 6.7. &nbsp;Scotland pacer Brad Wheal (27 wickets at 19.9 in 2022) could also be a useful option.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673498575738-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Best XI: Andre Fletcher/Mohammad Waseem, Will Smeed, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Najibullah Zadran/Samit Patel, Bas de Leede, Kieron Pollard (c), Dwayne Bravo, Jordan Thompson, Trent Boult, Imran Tahir, Zahoor KhanFirst match:&nbsp;MI Emirates kick start their campaign against Sharjah Warriors at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.Gulf GiantsCaptain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10131/james-vince/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Vince</a>Coach: Andy FlowerThe James Vince-led side have <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64861/shimron-hetmyer/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shimron Hetmyer</a> and Chris Lynn as the two marquee players. Their top five consisting of Vince, Tom Banton, Lynn, Ollie Pope and Hetmyer are sure to send chills down the spine of the opposition. Hetmyer has a point to prove after he was not considered for the T20 World Cup post missing a flight to Australia in the series prior to that.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673498774759-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">They also seem to be sorted on the bowling front, especially at the death, with Chris Jordan and Richard Gleeson likely to take charge. Not to forget all-rounders Liam Dawson and David Wiese too can whack a few and bowl useful overs. However, UAE&rsquo;s Ashwanth Valthappa could be the one to surprise everyone. A left-hander who can bowl a bit of off-spin, Valthappa is more of an unknown quantity with chances of early success.The Giants seem to have enough depth in the pace and spin departments, but have very limited resources when it comes to the batters. Barring those who will more or less make the XI, they do not have much more to dig in from their squad.Associate players to look out for:<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/45853/david-wiese/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">David Wiese</a>, 37, has been plying his trade with Namibia at the international level for the last two years and has featured in leagues across the globe. He scored over 500 runs at a strike-rate of 160 last year and with the ball, his 36 wickets have come at an economy rate of a shade under eight.Other players to look out for include the 17-year-old spinner Aaayan Khan from UAE, who impressed everyone with his tight line and length at the T20 World Cup. Having made his international debut in September last year, he is tipped for a bright future.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499131852-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus could be another prospect. He finished as the leading ODI run-getter in 2022 with over 900 runs and in T20s, he adds value with both bat and ball that could at some point in the tournament prove pivotal.Best XI: James Vince (c), Tom Banton (wk), Chris Lynn, Ollie Pope, Shimron Hetmyer, Liam Dawson, Ashwanth Valthappa, David Wiese, Chris Jordan/Richard Gleeson, Dominic Drakes/Tom Helm, Aayan KhanFirst match: Gulf Giants begin their campaign against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on January 15.Sharjah WarriorsCaptain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4688/moeen-ali/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Moeen Ali</a>Coach: Paul Farbrace<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/4311/marcus-stoinis/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marcus Stoinis</a>&rsquo; will be available after January 25 following his Big Bash League (BBL) commitments, but Sharjah Warriors seem to have a well-balanced side. Moeen Ali&rsquo;s men appear to carry a good mix of powerplay bashers, anchors and also enough firepower in the middle and lower down the order to get the job done.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499224397-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Outside their best XI, there isn&rsquo;t enough variety but this tournament could be an opportunity for someone to step up if needed. The English trio of Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Joe Denly and also Dawid Malan will perhaps have to play a big role in Sharjah achieving their goals this season.Associate players to look out for:<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/70267/karthik-meiyappan/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Karthik Meiyappan</a> and Junaid Siddique had their moments of glory during the T20 World Cup 2022. Leg-spinner Meiyappan picked up a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in the first round, while Siddique used his pace to his advantage to rattle a few batters. Not to forget, he hit one of the biggest sixes of the tournament when he dispatched Dushmantha Chameera over square-leg!<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499314758-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Another quick bowler Bilal Khan from Oman, finished with 43 ODI wickets in 2022. The left-arm quick has the knack of swinging the ball both ways and moreover, bowls them at decent pace. 18-year-old UAE opening batter Alishan Sharafu, who has played 17 games for his country too could be looked at some point.Best XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Evin Lewis, Dawid Malan, Tom Kohler-Cadmore/Joe Denly, Moeen Ali &copy;, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Woakes/Marcus Stoinis, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Bilal Khan, Noor AhmadDesert VipersCaptain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11724/colin-munro/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colin Munro</a>Coach: James FosterThe Desert Vipers are spoilt for choices when it comes to the left-arm pace department with the trio of Sheldon Cottrell, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67897/ruben-trumpelmann/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ruben Trumpelmann</a>, Tymal Mills and UAE&rsquo;s Shiraz Ahmed potentially vying for two spots. Furthermore, they also have left-arm wrist spinner Jake Lintott and the orthodox version in Mark Watt.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499377253-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Vipers have a couple of Under-19 prospects in all-rounder Ronak Panoly and left-handed batter Ali Naseer. One of them are likely to play a regular part in the XI, with the experienced all-rounder Rohan Mustafa assured to get the nod for one of the two mandatory UAE spots.The Munro-led side are not short of firepower in their batting as well. So much so that the experienced Adam Lyth and Dinesh Chandimal could warm the bench depending on the combination the team want to go in with. One of the best spinners in the world Wanindu Hasaranga is expected to join the squad following his international commitments.Associate players to look out for:<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/62420/rohan-mustafa/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohan Mustafa</a>&rsquo;s exclusion from the T20 World Cup squad despite being among the top 10 all-rounders in the world was a little baffling. However, the 34-year-old&rsquo;s experience of playing in the UAE will certainly behoove the side.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499459269-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Namibia&rsquo;s Trumpelmann and Scotland spinner are certainly the other key players from the associate nation. Trumpelmann especially has upped his batting game along with his accurate left-arm seamers, while Watt has proved to be pivotal in especially choking the opposition with his orthodox spin as he has shown in the last two T20 World Cups.Best XI: Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Sam Billings (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Rohan Mustafa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Ronak Panoly, Tom Curran, Benny Howell, Sheldon Cottrell, Ruben Trumpelmann/Mark WattFirst match: Desert Vipers begin their ILT20 campaign against Sharjah Warriors on January 15 at the Dubai International StadiumAbu Dhabi Knight RidersCaptain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11229/sunil-narine/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunil Narine</a>Coach: Abhishek NayarThe Abu Dhabi Knight Riders is the third and the latest link in the Knight Riders&rsquo; universe, originating from Kolkata and then reaching the shore of Trinidad &amp; Tobago. Hence, there is no surprise that Sunil Narine and Andre Russell frame the core of this side. Narine, in fact, is leading the side in Abu Dhabi&rsquo;s maiden campaign.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499672761-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Add Akeal Hosein with Narine in the XI and Abu Dhabi&rsquo;s spin department looks sorted with two quality finger spinners. Both bowlers have an economy of under 7 in T20s since 2022. Paul Stirling adds the crucial off-spin option. This quadrat of Narine, Russell, Hosein and Stirling fulfills the all-rounders&rsquo; quota aptly. They also possess raw pace with options in Marchant de Lange and Lahiru Kumara.&nbsp;However, Abu Dhabi compromise on the batting front. Russell is the only power-hitter in the middle-order. Kennar Lewis, a part-time glovesman is the only wicket-keeping option in the squad and will have to play all matches. He is a top-order batter who averages only 18.7 in his T20 career.&nbsp;On the basis of their best XI, Dhananjaya de Silva is the only back-up batting option. And he will not be available for the campaign until Sri Lanka finish their white-ball tour of India. Therefore, Lewis&rsquo; forced inclusion in the batting firepower is threatening for a side that is already thin on batting resources. And in one minor chink in their bowling line-up, they don&rsquo;t have any leg-spinner in their squad.&nbsp;Associates players to look out for:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64951/brandon-glover/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Brandon Glover</a> and Ali Khan are the only associate players in the squad. Being like for like cricketers, they will be contesting with each other for the associate player spot. Ali Khan has been another cricketer who has stayed with the Knight Riders in each of their three franchises. Glover, meanwhile, has been on the rise of late. He featured in four T20s in 2022 and picked 10 wickets at an economy of 7.2 runs per over.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499796761-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">He also holds the experience of playing in the T20 Blast and The Hundred. Playing against a touring India side in July, Glover nabbed figures of 3/33 including the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav.&nbsp;Best XI:&nbsp;Paul Stirling, Kennar Lewis (wk), Colin Ingram, Charith Asalanka, Andre Russell, Fahid Nawaz, Akeal Hosein, Sunil Narine, Marchant de Lange, Brandon Glover, Sabir AliFirst Match:&nbsp;Abu Dhabi Knight Riders will feature in the lung opener, playing an away game against Dubai Capitals on January 13.&nbsp;Dubai Capitals&nbsp;Captain: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65291/rovman-powell/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rovman Powell</a>Coach: Phil SimmonsThe Dubai Capitals, the sister franchise of Delhi Capitals, is loaded with batting all-rounders. They hold four prime batters in their squad who can bowl part-time off-spin when required and can easily play at least two of them in the XI. There are more all-rounders in Fabian Allen, Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne. They also possess a bottomless quiver of batters, with multiple back-ups for almost every spot. Dubai simply have too many batters to choose from.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/25422/sikandar-raza/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sikandar Raza</a> is now a budget Narine with his bowling arm and a ferocious hitter with the bat who is in the peak phase of his career. He will be the most vital player for Dubai alongside the skipper Rovman Powell and Shanaka. Mujeeb Ur Rahman&rsquo;s presence safeguards the spin department.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673499865412-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Beefing up their batting more than required has evidently resulted in a lack of bowling resources. For starters, they lack express pace. Fred Klaasen and Isuru Udana are the only two specialist pacers in the squad. Also, like Abu Dhabi, there is no trace of leg-spin in Dubai&rsquo;s outfit. Hence, Dubai can struggle to prevent run-scoring on truer pitches. Last but not the least, Niroshan Dickwella is the only wicket-keeper in the squad, unless Robin Uthappa decides to take gloves at the age of 37 without much cricket behind him.&nbsp;Associate player to look out for:The left-arm seamer from Netherlands, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67424/fred-klaassen/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fred Klaasen</a> has been making rapid strides in his career. He maintained an economy of 7.9 across 30 T20s in 2022. He is the most lethal in the powerplay where he averages 22 runs per wicket at an economy of 5.9, both his least across phases in 2022.&nbsp;<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1673500067237-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Best XI:&nbsp;Chirag Suri, Robin Uthappa/Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Joe Root, Rovman Powell ( c ), Sikandar Raza, Dasun Shanaka, Fabian Allen, Isuru Udana, Akif Raja, Fred Klaasen, Mujeeb Ur Rahman(Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne are currently on national duty and are expected to miss Dubai&rsquo;s first two fixtures)First Match: Dubai Capitals will feature in the lung opener, playing a home game against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders on January 13.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Many from the UAE and other associate nations will rub shoulders with the big guns in this new, exciting tournament

Sunil Narine

Moeen Ali

James Vince

Colin Munro

ILT20 2023: How are the teams shaping up in UAE’s latest franchise league?

For long, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10129/joe-root/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joe Root</a> has been the backbone of England&#39;s Test line-up and is not much looked at as a stalwart in white-ball. However, he has 6,207 ODI runs and a World Cup winners&#39; medal to his name.&nbsp;As the Three Lions prepare to defend their title in 10 months time in India, Root is on a journey to further sharpen his skills with the white-ball. The 32-year old will be playing T20 cricket for Dubai Capitals in the inaugural edition of UAE&#39;s International League T20 (ILT20).Ahead of the tournament opener against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders on January 13 (Friday), Root spoke about his aim for the ODI World Cup.&quot;I have a lot of experience in playing 50-over cricket now. I have got a good understanding of how to play in ODIs. I really want to develop my white-ball game further and if there is anything that I can add to my 50-over game, it will come from playing more T20 cricket and putting myself in situations I have not found myself frequently during the course of my career so far,&quot; Root said, as quoted by PTI.Besides playing the domestic competitions in England and The Hundred, Root hasn&#39;t featured in franchise cricket as of late. He put his name in the recent IPL auction, but went unsold while other England players went for hefty sums of money.&quot;It&rsquo;s really exciting for me. I haven&rsquo;t played a lot of T20 cricket in the last couple of years, but my experience as a cricketer will hold me in good stead. Hopefully, I can go out there and get some big scores to help our team win some matches,&quot; Root said.Root also spoke how legendary <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2962/sachin-tendulkar/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sachin Tendulkar</a> was his childhood idol.&quot;I mean obviously there are some wonderful players currently playing but look at what Sachin (Tendulkar) has achieved; it&rsquo;s just remarkable really, the longevity, the ability to be such a high-performing player at such a young age, and then to be able to sustain and to keep developing and moving forward in the game,&quot; Root told Zee.&quot;He made his debut before I was born and played in my debut, and it just shows how and what he was for Indian cricket for such a long period of time,&quot; he added.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The former England captain will feature in the ILT20 for Dubai Capitals

Sachin Tendulkar

England

Root hoping to improve ODI skills by playing T20 leagues

Dubai Capitals have signed former England Test captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/10129/joe-root/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joe Root</a> for the inaugural edition of the International League T20 (ILT20), which will be played in January and February in the UAE.&nbsp;This will only be the second time Root will be featuring in an overseas T20 league.The 31-year-old hasn&rsquo;t played a T20I for England since May 2019 but is still an integral part of the ODI set-up. He has also put his name in the forthcoming Indian Premier League 2023 auction on December 23 and wants to feature in the tournament for the first time in his career.&nbsp;Apart from the T20 Blast and the Hundred, the only time Root has featured in a T20 league was in 2018-19 when he played for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.The right-handed batter did enter the IPL auction in 2018 but went unsold. He hasn&rsquo;t been too active in these franchise-based T20 leagues due to international commitments and England&rsquo;s Test captaincy, but with Ben Stokes taking over the command, we could see Root featuring a lot in these T20 leagues.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

This will only be the second time he will be featuring in an overseas T20 league

Dubai Capitals sign Joe Root for ILT20 2023

The Knight Riders Group have appointed <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11229/sunil-narine/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunil Narine</a> as the skipper of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for the inaugural season of UAE&#39;s International League T20, set to be played in UAE in January. Narine is one of the few players to have played for only one franchise in the Indian Premier League and extending his services to ILT20 means he is now associated with all three franchises of Knight Riders Group - KKR, ADKR and TKR.&quot;I&#39;m very excited to take up the role as captain of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. It&#39;s a new challenge, because now I have to think about the functioning of our whole team, rather than just focus on my game or my four overs. It&#39;s something I&#39;m really looking forward to. I have grown on Knight Riders, and Knight Riders have grown on me, so it&#39;s like a family,&rdquo; Narine said in a press release shared by the Knight Riders group. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓 ⚠️ Presenting the 𝘒𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘪𝘯-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 at <a href="https://twitter.com/ADKRiders?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ADKRiders</a>! 👊🇦🇪<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbuDhabiKnightRiders?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbuDhabiKnightRiders</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ILT20?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ILT20</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ILT20Official?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ILT20Official</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALeagueApart?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALeagueApart</a> <a href="https://t.co/T9qxhEH7lD">pic.twitter.com/T9qxhEH7lD</a>&mdash; Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (@ADKRiders) <a href="https://twitter.com/ADKRiders/status/1602913879214129152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote> &ldquo;Everywhere they have a team, I love being a part of it. I have played a lot of cricket in the UAE, so I know the conditions pretty well. If you look at the ADKR squad, it is a familiar setup, and not a brand new XI that I have to get used to. So that gives me great confidence, knowing the strength of my players. There are a lot of senior guys in the team as well, who I can bounce ideas and information off. It&#39;s going to be a lot of fun, it has been a long journey with the Knight Riders family, and I hope it&#39;s a never-ending one.&quot;Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11724/colin-munro/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colin Munro</a> has been named as the captain of Desert Vipers whereas Moeen Ali will lead Sharjah Warriors in the inaugural edition of the ILT20. The tourmament will kick off in Dubai on January 13.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Meanwhile, Colin Munro has been named as the captain of Desert Vipers

Sunil Narine to lead Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in ILT20

League-League

TEAM	P	W	L	PTS	NRR
Q DV	9	7	2	14	+0.587
Q GG	8	5	1	12	+1.227
MIE	8	4	3	9	+1.361
SW	8	3	4	7	-0.229
DC	9	3	5	7	-0.546
ADKR	8	0	7	1	-2.387

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