Captain Colin Munro, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, and opener Alex Hales are among the key players retained by the Desert Vipers team for the upcoming second edition of the UAE's ILT20 tournament.
Director of Cricket Tom Moody expressed the team's objective of retaining a strong core of players who helped them reach the final in the inaugural year of the ILT20. The presence of world-class players like Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales, and captain Colin Munro gives the team confidence in building another successful campaign in the second year of the tournament.
Alex Hales, who was part of England's 2022 Men's T20 World Cup campaign, emerged as the top run-scorer in the inaugural edition of the ILT20, amassing 469 runs across 12 innings with an impressive average of 46.9. He will return to the Desert Vipers for the 2024 edition.
West Indies all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford, known for his left-hand batting, will also make a comeback. Rutherford had a remarkable performance in the previous tournament, displaying incredible commitment and resilience despite a painful hamstring injury. He played a crucial role in taking the Desert Vipers to the final and finished with the second-highest strike rate of 184 in the tournament.
The bowling attack of the Desert Vipers will once again be led by Wanindu Hasaranga and West Indies' fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell. Both players were among the top five wicket-takers in the 2023 ILT20 tournament. England all-rounder Tom Curran, who also performed well in the previous edition, has been retained by the Vipers.
Other notable retentions include UAE's Rohan Mustafa, who effectively played the role of opener for the team, and Ali Naseer, an emerging all-rounder who made his UAE ODI debut earlier this year. Ali Naseer impressed with both bat and ball, finishing as the third highest-run scorer across teams and displaying a strong bowling performance in the Men's ODI World Cup Qualifier 2023.
Director of Cricket Tom Moody expressed satisfaction with the squad retentions, highlighting the experience of Rohan Mustafa and the potential of Ali Naseer. He also acknowledged the difficulty of making retention decisions, as the team aims to maintain flexibility for new signings to further strengthen and develop the squad.
The Desert Vipers have released several players from the squad, including Sam Billings, Tymal Mills, Benny Howell, Ruben Trumpelmann, Ben Duckett, Adam Lyth, Mark Watt, Saqib Mahmood, Jake Lintott, Ronak Panoly, Sheraz Ahmed, and Dhruv Parashar.
Desert Vipers Retained Players: Colin Munro (NZ), Wanindu Hasaranga (SL), Alex Hales (ENG), Tom Curran (ENG), Sherfane Rutherford (WI), Luke Wood (ENG), Matheesha Pathirana (SL), Sheldon Cottrell (WI), Dinesh Chandimal (SL), Gus Atkinson (ENG), Rohan Mustafa (UAE) and Ali Naseer (UAE)