Narine, Hosein, Rampaul in Knight Riders team for UAE T20

Trinidad and Tobago spinner Sunil Narine is one of three marquee players signed to the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) for the upcoming United Arab Emirates T20.

On Tuesday, the Knight Riders franchise announced the first 14 players of their squad for competition, which bowls off on Sunday.

Narine is one of the franchise’s key players and also represents for the Trinbago Knight Riders at the Caribbean Premier League and the Kolkota Knight Riders’ at the Indian Premier League.

Joining him are Jamaican big-hitter Andre Russell and English batsman Jonny Bairstow. TT spinner Akeal Hosein and pacer Ravi Rampaul have also been selected.

Making the announcement, Knight Riders CEO Venky Moore said, “Firstly, it’s great to see that our global footprint continues to grow in line with our vision & strategy. KKR in IPL, TKR in CPL and now ADKR in the ILT20.”

“It’s also terrific that we have our mainstays – Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – as part of ADKR. We are really delighted that Jonny Bairstow joins the Knight Riders family and will no doubt play a huge part in ADKR’s journey in ILT20.

“We are also delighted that Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Ali Khan, Colin Ingram and Seekuge Prasanna, who have been part of Trinbago Knight Riders before, are also a part of ADKR.”

“A big welcome to Paul Stirling, Charith Asalanka, Kennar Lewis, Lahiru Kumara, Raymon Reifer and Brandon Glover to the Knight Riders family.”

“The ILT20 promises to be an exciting tournament and we are looking forward to very competitive games and a lot of entertainment.”

Local UAE players will be added in the draft.

ADKR Squad ILT20:

Sunil Narine (TT/West Indies),

Andre Russell (Jamaica/West Indies)

Jonny Bairstow (England)

Paul Stirling (Ireland)

Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka)

Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka)

Colin Ingram (South Africa)

Akeal Hosein (TT/West Indies)

Seekkuge Prasanna (Sri Lanka)

Ravi Rampaul (TT/West Indies)

Raymon Reifer (Barbados/West Indies)

Kennar Lewis (Jamaica/West Indies)

Ali Khan (US)

Brandon Glover (Netherlands)