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Exclusive: UAE fans would love to see Shaheen and Warner in ILT20, says ECB official

Mubashshir Usmani, general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board, says it's a great boost for the ILT20 to have Warner and Shaheen for the second season

Mubashshir Usmani, the general secretary of the Emirates Cricket Board, says it's a great boost for the DP World ILT20, the UAE's IPL-style franchise league, to have superstars David Warner and Shaheen Shah Afridi on board for the second season.

While Australian opener Warner has signed for the Dubai Capitals, Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen will play for the Desert Vipers in the second season which will get under way on January 19.

Meanwhile, England's Mark Wood, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, will join his Ashes rival Warner at Dubai Capitals.

The first season of the league, won by Gulf Giants, was the second most watched T20 franchise tournament in India.

Now with the arrival of Warner and Shaheen in the star-studded event that also includes Alex Hales, Usmani believes the ILT20 will get bigger and better.

Q Getting David Warner and Shaheen Shah Afridi is a massive boost in the second season for the ILT20. It must have been a huge effort from the entire team get players like them…

We are very pleased with our signings for Season 2. I want to congratulate all our stakeholders especially the franchises and the DP World ILT20 team for securing such top-class talent. Warner and Shaheen are two of the biggest all-format stars at present with a massive following around the world. I am sure that the fans would love to see them across our three venues when action begins next January.

Q: Even getting Mark Wood is huge considering his Ashes heroics only recently…

Of course, Wood is also an incredible pick, and I must congratulate Dubai Capitals for getting him onboard. A quality fast bowler competing against the best batters in the world is always a delight for cricket fans.

Q: Getting Shaheen and Warner is probably going to help bring in big crowd at the stadium…

We staged the DP World ILT20 Season 1 final in front of a full house, there was great momentum that we were able to build in the playoffs and then the final was the icing on the cake. With Warner, Shaheen and so many other new signings as well as retained superstars from around the world we are set to provide rich cricketing entertainment. We are also working on some exciting entertainment opportunities for the spectators. The idea is to make the matches a complete package for families as well as for cricket diehards, there is a lot to look forward to once the fun begins.

Q: According to a press release from your side, the ILT20 is the second-most watched league in India. That means it is probably the second-most watched league in the world. Can you please share the data?

The research was carried out by YouGov which is one of the leading global sports, sponsorship, and entertainment research companies in the world. We have an exceptional broadcast partner in Zee, and they made sure that the DP World ILT20 reached across India which as we all know is the biggest cricket market in the world. We had a world-class broadcast production and Zee’s outstanding coverage both on linear and digital were instrumental in us reaching these numbers.

The DP World ILT20 gained a reach of 255.4 million fans in India while the TV ratings and reach numbers for the league were 0.19.

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.

Q: The schedule of course clashes with the Big Bash League and the South Africa’s new league. If not for that, could we have seen more big players? Any plans to move the league to some other slots in the future?

With the current landscape of international, domestic and franchise cricket, there is no ideal window as cricket is being played around the world and round the year. We have to see what window works the best for us and after detailed discussions with relevant stakeholders we have announced the January 19 to February 18, 2024 window. We are very pleased with the player roster for Season 2 and some of the deals with the big stars is for up to three years which means we are guaranteed a world-class roster of players for the next three seasons.

Q: The league had definitely given a great exposure to UAE youngsters who have made impressive progress in T20s. Will you plan to keep one more slot in future for a local player? Now you have two in the playing 11…

The DP World ILT20 is all about developing, nurturing and promoting UAE talent. We have proven to the world that our cricket is on the rise! We defeated both Afghanistan and New Zealand convincingly in T20Is this year. Youngsters like Aayan Afzal Khan and Sanchit Sharma got great exposure with the tournament winners Gulf Giants.

Jawadullah, Vriitya Aravind and Ali Naseer are our future stars and DP World ILT20 provided them the invaluable opportunity of sharing dressing rooms with world-class players and coaches. We are working on an exclusive development programme for UAE players which will be a pathway for the DP World ILT20 Season 2 and onwards.

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