NEW DELHI: West Indian Kieron Pollard and New Zealand’s Trent Boult will repre­sent MI Emirates in the inaugural International League T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, the Abu Dhabi-based franchise owned by Reliance Industries said on Friday.

The Indian conglomerate also owns Pollard’s Indian Premier League (IPL) team Mumbai Indians and the Cape Town-based franchise in an upcoming Twenty20 league in South Africa.

Pollard is one of the four West Indies players, including white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran and veteran Dwayne Bravo, to join MI Emirates for the six-team tournament beginning in January next year.

Bravo and Pooran have played for Mumbai Indians in the past.

Former Mumbai Indians player Boult is among the 14 overseas players directly signed by the franchise.

The left-arm seamer gave up his central contract with New Zealand Cricket on Wednesday to spend more time with his family and focus on playing Twenty20 leagues.

Veteran South Africa spinner Imran Tahir, Englishman Samit Patel and a trio of Afghan players including middle-order batter Najibullah Zadran have also joined the franchise.

Teams can field up to nine foreigners in their playing XI.

“...local players from UAE will be added to the squad in the near future,” the franchise said.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022