Dubai [UAE], July 10 : The Desert Vipers are thrilled to announce a list of retained players for the second edition of the UAE's ILT20 tournament. Captain Colin Munro leads the roster of returning players with Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales, Tom Curran, Sherfane Rutherford, Luke Wood, Matheesha Pathirana, Sheldon Cottrell, Dinesh Chandimal, Gus Atkinson, Rohan Mustafa and Ali Naseer.
Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody is pleased to have the core team returning for the 2024 edition of the ILT20: "One of the main objectives in the retention process for 2024 was to retain a strong core of players that helped us reach the final in 2023 in the inaugural year of the ILT20."
"Having some world class players on our list like Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales and our captain Colin Munro, just to mention a few; it gives us confidence knowing that they strong pillars to help build another strong campaign moving into the second year of the ILT20."
Finalists in the inaugural edition of the ILT20, the Desert Vipers made a significant impact in the tournament, across all departments of the game. A number of statistical records are held by the Desert Vipers showcasing the depth and strength of the squad.
England batter Alex Hales finished the tournament as the highest run scorer with 469 runs across 12 innings at an average of 46.9. Hales returns to the side for the 2024 edition. Also making a comeback is West Indies left-hand batting all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford, who finished with the tournament's second-highest strike rate of 184, and featured in the top-five list of batters with the highest number of sixes during the tournament. Rutherford was a hero for the team, and showed incredible commitment and resilience, batting through a painful hamstring injury to help build a crucial victory, taking the Desert Vipers to the final.
Piloting the bowling attack for the Vipers once again will be West Indies' quick Sheldon Cottrell and Sri Lankan spin maestro Wanindu Hasaranga. Both finished amongst the top-five wicket-takers in the 2023 ILT20 tournament, alongside all-rounder Tom Curran, who has also been retained by the Vipers.
UAE's Rohan Mustafa who played the role of opener effectively for the Vipers, has been retained, along with Ali Naseer, who since his first appearance for the Desert Vipers made his UAE ODI debut in a series against the West Indies in June this year. While the UAE lost the series, Naseer finished as the third highest-run scorer across teams, with 128 runs scored at an average of 42.66, The bowling all-rounder then went on to impress with the ball in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 which concluded in Zimbabwe, over the weekend, finishing with eight wickets across six matches played.
Director of Cricket Tom Moody lead's the Desert Vipers strategy on building and growing local talent in the UAE through the ILT20, and he is pleased to have Rohan Mustafa and Ali Naseer back in the squad: " It is great that we have managed to secure the experience of Rohan Mustafa our leading UAE all-rounder and also a very exciting emerging all-rounder in Ali-Naseer in our squad with our retentions for 2024."
Players who will not be returning to the Desert Vipers squad are 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.
After a successful first season at the ILT20, Tom Moody explains the team's decisions on retentions and why some changes have been made: "It is always difficult during retention time because ideally you would like to keep all our players from the previous year, but we thought it was important to make sure we had flexibility post the retention deadline for new signings, to continue to grow the squad and develop the squad for bigger and better things moving forward."
Desert Vipers Retention list: Colin Munro, Wanindu Hasaranga, Alex Hales, Tom Curran, Sherfane Rutherford, Luke Wood, Matheesha Pathirana, Sheldon Cottrell, Dinesh Chandimal, Gus Atkinson, Rohan Mustafa and Ali Naseer.
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