West Indies Twenty20 international specialist Andre Russell is among the 14 players signed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) for the United Arab Emirates International League T20 (ILT20).
ADKR announced their overseas players on Tuesday and the list also includes five more West Indians – Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Raymon Reifer, Kennar Lewis and Ravi Rampaul.
The ADKR franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, which also manages teams such as Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL) and Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL).
Jamaica’s Russell and Trinidad and Tobago’s Narine have been part of IPL’s Kolkata Knight Riders since 2012 and 2014 respectively, while Narine also plays for CPL team Trinbago Knight Riders.
England’s swashbuckling all-rounder Jonny Bairstow is another notable overseas signing from the Abu Dhabi franchise for the inaugural season of the UAE T20 league.
“Firstly it is fantastic to see our global footprint continue to grow in line with our vision and strategy. KKR in IPL, TKR in CPL and now ADKR in ILT20,” said Venky Mysore, CEO of Knight Riders.
“It is also great that we have our mainstays – Sunil Narine and Andre Russell as part of ADKR. We are truly delighted to have Jonny Bairstow join the Knight Riders family and will no doubt play a huge role in ADKR’s journey to the ILT20. We are also delighted that Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Ali Khan, Colin Ingram and Seekuge Prasanna, who were part of Trinbago Knight Riders earlier, are also part of ADKR.
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ADKR said their local UAE players will be added to the squad later through the draft.
The ILT20 is scheduled to begin in January next year in the United Arab Emirates and is competing with the South African T20 League for players.
ADKR squad so far: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, Raymon Reifer, Kennar Lewis, Ravi Rampaul (all West Indies), Jonny Bairstow (England), Paul Stirling (Ireland), Lahiru Kumara, Charith Asalanka, Seekkuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka trio), Colin Ingram (South Africa), Ali Khan (USA), Brandon Glover (Netherlands).
