The star English all-rounder Moeen Ali has been appointed as captain of Sharjah Warriors for the inaugural edition of the International League T20. The franchise also announced the appointment of Paul Farbrace as their head coach for the first edition which is scheduled to start in January 2023.Moeen is currently leading Morrisville Samp Army in the ongoing Abu Dhabi T10 League 2022 and has also captained England in the white-ball matches in the absence of regular skipper Jos Buttler. Moeen stated that he is honored and pleased to lead Sharjah Warriors in the first edition of the tournament and also talked about his excitement for playing at the iconic Sharjah Stadium.
"It is a great honour and would be a pleasure to lead Sharjah Warriors," said Moeen. "In this format, anybody can beat anybody, and it is important to keep evolving. With the team at our disposal, we can play aggressive, yet sensible cricket and hopefully be in the mix towards the business end of the ILT20. Playing at world-class facilities and especially the iconic Sharjah Stadium is a very exciting prospect, and we are all looking forward to it."Farbrace will be joined by Matthew Maynard as the batting coach and G Jayakumar as the bowling coach, the franchise announced on Thursday (December 1).Farbrace, who has also briefly served as interim national men's coach of England, apart from serving as the deputy of the side under Peter Moores and Trevor Bayliss, said, "The T20 format has been challenging and yet most rewarding, It is nice to see talent from around the world getting more opportunities. I am aware of how cricket is followed here as an extension of the subcontinent. I hope we can work some magic here to inspire future generations and even generate local interest." Former India fielding coach R Sridhar will serve as the Director of Cricket while former Mumbai pacer Kshemal Waingankar will take charge as the Chief Operating Officer.
