Vipers sign Shaheen, add sting to attack for ILT20 Season Two

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

All-format Pakistan superstar Shaheen Shah Afridi spearheads the new players signings list for the DP World ILT20 Season 2.

The fast bowler who has made a stunning impression around the world with his pacy left-arm deliveries (229 wickets in 161 T20s) will play for the inaugural season’s finalists Desert Vipers. The full list of new signings for Season 2 will be unveiled in the next few days, the tournament is scheduled to take place in January-February 2024.

Since his T20I debut in 2018, Shaheen has made phenomenal progress across formats. Last year, he was adjudged the ICC Player of the Year and earned The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy – the biggest ICC annual award for a cricketer. His international wickets tally stands at 239 (105 Tests, 70 ODIs and 64 T20Is).

Shaheen has a real knack of taking wickets at the start of his bowling spells, the 23-year-old has so far captured 42 first over wickets in the T20 format.

Shaheen: “I am excited to join the Desert Vipers. I know there are many Pakistan cricket fans in the UAE, and I hope they will support our team in the upcoming DP World ILT20.”

Shaheen’s signing adds even more value and quality to an already star-studded line-up of T20 stars in the DP World ILT20. The six franchises have succeeded in retaining some of the biggest names in the global T20 circuit including last year’s top run-getter Alex Hales (Green Belt winner) and the highest wicket-taker Chris Jordan (White Belt winner).

Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sikandar Raza, Chris Lynn, Kieron Pollard and Chris Woakes are amongst a whole host of the T20 bigwigs who will showcase their prowess in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah in the DP World ILT20 Season Two with more big names to be unveiled soon.

With 229 wickets in the T20 format, Shaheen remains one of the most sought-after players around the world.

Preparations for a blockbuster Season Two underway following the big success of DP World ILT20 Season One which established the league as the second-most watched cricket league in India, a total of 367 million views gathered from around the world.

Following the huge success of the DP World ILT20 2023 work has begun on Season Two which is set to commence from Jan.13 2024. Season Two will be played on the same 34-match format with four playoffs including the final. The tournament schedule will be announced in due course.

The inaugural edition of the DP World ILT20 made great waves around the world as Gulf Giants lifted the glittering trophy in February 2023 at the Dubai International Stadium. The tournament decider was played in front of a packed stadium as the James Vince-led Giants made history by becoming the first-ever champions of UAE’s very own T20 league.

The DP World ILT20 received a fantastic response from cricket fans around the world especially India through a quality broadcast that was available on Zee’s linear and digital platforms with commentary in English, Hindi and Tamil.

According to a research report by one of the leading global sports, sponsorship and entertainment research companies YouGov Sport, the DP World ILT20 Season One was the second most-watched league in India.  

The opening edition of the tournament became popular amongst the fans due to the high-quality performances by the biggest assembly of foreign players in any tournament, 118 international players competed in the tournament.

The DP World ILT20 2023 edition also made a mark globally with highly impressive numbers of 367 million worldwide unique viewership through TV and digital platforms.

General Secretary ECB Mubashshir Usmani: “We are delighted with our broadcast numbers for the inaugural season. The DP World ILT20 made waves around the world including India. The support that the league got speaks volumes about the quality of cricket that the inaugural DP World ILT20 provided to the fans. We are fully focussed on making the second season bigger and better.