MI Trent Boult, who on Wednesday chose to forego a New Zealand central contract in order to spend more time with his family and concentrate on T20 franchise cricket, and Kieron Pollard are the two players who stand out on Emirates’ roster of non-UAE [overseas] players. Emirates is owned by the Mumbai Indians and competes in the UAE’s ILT20 league.
The league has given the six participating franchises the option to select up to 14 foreign players as “direct acquisitions” for their starting lineups, with a maximum of nine allowed in the playing XIs.
The 14 players for the MI Emirates are Pollard (West Indies), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Nicholas Pooran (West Indies), Andre Fletcher (West Indies), Boult (New Zealand), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Najibullah Zadran (Afghanistan), Zahir Khan (Afghanistan), Samit Patel (England), Will Smeed (England), Jordan Thompson (England), Brad Wheal ( (from the Netherlands).
While Pollard has played exclusively for Mumbai Indians since joining them in 2010, Boult was moved to Mumbai Indians prior to the 2020 season by Delhi Capitals, and he went on to play a key role in their championship run. Jasprit Bumrah’s 27 wickets were the only ones to surpass his 25 that season, and he was named Player of the Final as Mumbai Indians won their sixth championship. Additionally, Bravo and Pooran had previously played for the Mumbai Indians.
The franchise’s owners, Reliance Jio, led by chairman Akash M. Ambani, released a statement saying, “I am delighted with our dynamic group of 14 players that will be part of our #Onefamily and represent ‘MI Emirates’. We are glad to have one of our key pillars, Kieron Pollard continue with MI Emirates. Joining us back are Dwayne Bravo, Trent Boult and Nicholas Pooran.”
The same group’s MI Cape Town franchise, which will play in the debut season of the South African T20 league, which will more or less run concurrently with the ILT20, announced their pre-signings on Thursday. Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, and Dewald Brevis are on that list.
Abu Dhabi will serve as the team’s headquarters of operations. Soon, the UAE-based players will be included on the roster.
