A great of the shortest format, Sunil Narine will take charge of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders team in the inaugural season of the ILT20.
He is a familiar face in the Knight Riders family, having represented KKR in 148 IPL matches.
He is perhaps a surprise pick as captain but will be supported by many experienced players, including five of his fellow West Indians.
They don’t come better than Andre Russell, who is one of the most powerful hitters to grace the game. From 432 T20 games, he has maintained a strike rate in excess of 160 and has scored nearly 600 sixes in the format. A proven finisher, he is warming up for the tournament with a stint with Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash.
Narine has opened the batting plenty of times in his T20 career and is frequently deployed as a floating pinch hitter in the CPL. He was given a lot of batting responsibility by Surrey last summer, including scoring 52 runs off 23 balls against Hampshire.
Hosein, meanwhile, only has a strike rate of 111 in the format but can give it a thwack on his day – in January last year, he struck 44 runs off 16 balls at No.10 against England.
Speaking ahead of the start of the competition, the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Captain Sunil Narine said,
“I think the main thing is to enjoy it . I think once you enjoy it, enjoy your teammate’s success, the game will take care of itself. When loser. I think once you enjoy what you’re doing, you’re going to wake up in the morning looking forward to doing it’s All the best. Hopefully, we have a good couple of weeks here and start on a win. And All the best.”
Squad: Sunil Narine (c), Andre Russell, Paul Stirling, Lahiru Kumara, Charith Asalanka, Colin Ingram, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Kennar Lewis, Ali Khan, Brandon Glover, Sabir Ali, Matiullah Khan, Zawar Farid, Fahad Nawaz, Marchant de Lange, Dhananjaya de Silva, Connor Esterhuizen, Traveen Mathew
Possible starting XI: Paul Stirling, Kennar Lewis, Colin Ingram, Charith Asalanka, Raymon Reifer, Andre Russell, Suninl Narine, Akeal Hosein, Brandon Glover, Sabir Ali, Lahiru Kumara
Fixtures: January 13 – Dubai Capitals (Dubai International Stadium, 2pm GMT), January 15 – Gulf Giants (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 10am), January 18 – Desert Vipers (Dubai International Stadium, 2pm), January 20 – Desert Vipers (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 2pm), January 21 – MI Emirates (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 2pm), January 25 – Gulf Giants (Dubai International Stadium, 2pm), January 28 – Sharjah Warriors (Sharjah Cricket Stadium, 10am), January 30 – Dubai Capitals (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 2pm), February 3 – MI Emirates (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 2pm), February 4 – Sharjah Warriors (Sheikh Zayed Stadium, 2pm)