Braves lift ILT20 Development Tournament trophy

Asif Khan produced a sensational unbeaten 96 to spearhead the ILT20 Braves to a nine-wicket win in the ILT20 Development Tournament final against ILT20 Blitzers which was played at the ICC Academy Oval 1, Dubai on Tuesday night.

The tournament was aimed at providing a potentially life changing opportunity to the players with 13 spots for UAE players still up for grabs in the DP World ILT20 Season 2. The 13 vacant spots will now be filled through a final selection process which will take place later this month.

Asif (player of the match), hit nine fours and six sixes in his 47-ball innings which made lightwork of the 115-run target. Asif’s incredible innings helped Braves finish the chase in a mere 12.1 overs.

Earlier, the Blitzers were blown away for a meagre 114 in 17.5 overs. Haider Ali bowled a brilliant spell; he took four wickets for 11.

Raees Ahmed, Abdul Ghaffar and Hafiz Almas Ayub took two wickets each. Asif finished as the highest run-getter in the 18-match tournament, he tallied 383 runs at 76.60 with the help of three half-centuries, he maintained an impressive 148.45 strike rate. Haider took 15 wickets at 14.07 with his left-arm orthodox spin.

The ILT20 Development Tournament’ is an initiative to promote the local talent for the future and absorb them into the senior teams. The second edition will be played from Jan.13-Feb.12.

The inaugural edition of the ILT20 was an instant hit. Dubai Capitals and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) got the ball rolling in a mouth-watering clash to kick-start the star-studded DP World International League T20, which is set to enthrall the fans with some fascinating performances.

The league, which boasts of six teams and 34 matches, was played across three major venues – Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Six teams -- Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (Knight Riders Group), Desert Vipers (Lancer Capital), Dubai Capitals (GMR), Gulf Giants (Adani Sportsline), MI Emirates (Reliance Industries), and Sharjah Warriors (Capri Global) put up a stellar performances.

Three of the six teams in the tournament came from Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises of Delhi Capitals, Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians while Indian billionaire Gautam Adani also made his maiden foray into the franchise cricket with his venture in the DP World ILT20, with the launch of Gulf Giants under the banner of Adani Sportsline.

A glittering opening ceremony was attended by Shahrukh Khan along with other dignitaries. Superstar Badshah and megastar Jason Derulo dazzled the crowd with their glamorous performances at the opening ceremony.

Badshah kept the fans on their toes with his most popular numbers like Voodoo, Players, Jugnu, Mercy, and Kala Chashma along with a visually-stunning troop of 40 dancers supporting him.

After the huge success of the first edition, ILT20 is et to return with a bang. It has become the second the most expensive league of the world after the IPL.ILT20 is a home-grown league of the Emirates Cricket Board.  As most of the teams come from the IPL, so ILT20 also carry same kind of aura and is one of the most sought after event in the UAE sporting calendar.

Of late, UAE has become the hub of the sporting events. During the outbreak of COVID-19, many of the world’s biggest sporting events like MMA, IPL, Cricket World Cup were shifted to the UAE for safety reasons.

All of these, extravaganzas were staged successfully  by the UAE, which established the country as heaven for the sporting event and also became the last resort for the organizers during the pandemic.