Cricket stars confirm return to DP World ILT20 for season 4

Rovman Powell will once again represent reigning champions Dubai Capitals in Season 4 of the DP World International League T20. (Deepak Malik/ILT20)
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Updated 07 July 2025
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Cricket stars confirm return to DP World ILT20 for season 4

  • Salt, Hales, Hasaranga, Powell, Curran, Ferguson, Farooqi, David, and Sikandar will take part in the UAE-based T20 league
  • DP World International League T20 season 4 will feature 6 teams across a 34-match tournament, with the final on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026

DUBAI: For the fourth consecutive season, some of the biggest T20 superstars from around the world will feature in the DP World International League T20.

England’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 winners Alex Hales, Chris Woakes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Phil Salt and Sam Curran (Season 3 Red Belt Winner — Most Valuable Player) will again display their talent in the Gulf region’s biggest T20 tournament.

Besides the star-studded England lineup, West Indies mega stars Rovman Powell, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sherfane Rutherford and Shai Hope (season three Green Belt Winner — Best Batter of the Tournament) will also return to their respective franchises.

Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza and Afghanistan’s premier new-ball bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi (Season 3 White Belt Winner — Best Bowler of the Tournament) will ake part in the month-long competition. Australia’s big-hitting batter Tim David and New Zealand’s fast bowling duo Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee have also declared their availability for Season 4.  

The teams have now completed the halfway stage in the squads’ selection process for Season 4 (eight players each). The first phase for the squad selection included the retention window for players from Season 3 and the new signings window which finished on June 16 and 30, respectively.

In the second phase of the Season 4 squad selection process, the teams will complete their respective squads at the DP World ILT20 Season 4 Player Auction, with date and details to be announced in the next few days.

Defending champions Dubai Capitals have added more depth to their bowling stocks by including Season 2 White Belt Winner — Afghanistan left-arm-wrist spinner Waqar Salamkheil as a new signing (previous team MI Emirates) alongside left-arm pacers Luke Wood (previous team Desert Vipers) and Muhammad Jawadullah (previous team Sharjah Warriorz).  

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders have added firepower to their batting with three explosive T20 batters Alex Hales (previous team Desert Vipers), Liam Livingstone (previous team Sharjah Warriorz) and Sherfane Rutherford (previous team Desert Vipers).

The Desert Vipers have included former ADKR opener Andries Gous as their new signing; the Season 1 and Season 3 finalists have retained the core of their Season 3 squad. Dan Lawrence, David Payne, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Lockie Ferguson, Max Holden, Sam Curran and Wanindu Hasaranga will be rejoining the Vipers for Season 4.

Season 1 winners Gulf Giants have signed Afghanistan’s globally recognized all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai, who will be making his DP World ILT20 debut this season while donning the Giants kit as one of their new signings. England’s Moeen Ali (previous team Sharjah Warriorz) returns to the DP World ILT20, the T20 great will be playing for the Giants as a new signing. Dashing Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the other new Giants’ Season 4 signing.

Gurbaz’s earlier DP World ILT20 stints were with Sharjah Warriorz (Season 1), Dubai Capitals (Season 2) and Desert Vipers (Season 3).

Season 2 winners MI Emirates have added all-round strength to their squad by including the all-format all-rounder — Chris Woakes (previous team Sharjah Warriorz) as a new signing. Sri Lanka’s upcoming all-rounder Kamindu Mendis is the other MI Emirates new signing for Season 4. Mendis will be making his DP World ILT20 debut.

Sharjah Warriorz have added Sikandar Raza (previous team Dubai Capitals). The globetrotting Zimbabwean all-rounder was the Season 2 Red Belt Winner — Most Valuable Player. Sri Lanka’s star white-ball spinner Maheesh Theekshana returns to the side as a new signing. He had appeared in eight games for the Warriorz in Season 2 of the DP World ILT20.

Warriorz have also bolstered their batting prowess for Season 4 with the inclusion of Australia’s big-hitting batter Tim David as a new signing. David played for MI Emirates in Season 1 and the Gulf Giants in Season 2. USA left-arm fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar has also joined the Warriorz.

The DP World International League T20 Season 4 will begin on Tuesday, Dec. 2 — UAE National Day (Eid-Al-Etihad) with a blockbuster opening, the six-team, 34-match tournament will conclude with the final on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026.

 DP World ILT20 Season 4 — players rejoining their Season 3 teams:

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Alishan Sharafu, Andre Russell, Charith Asalanka, Phil Salt and Sunil Narine.

Desert Vipers: Dan Lawrence, David Payne, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Lockie Ferguson, Max Holden, Sam Curran and Wanindu Hasaranga.

Dubai Capitals: Dasun Shanaka, Dushmantha Chameera, Gulbadin Naib, Rovmann Powell and Shai Hope.

Gulf Giants: Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Gerhard Erasmus, James Vince and Mark Adair.

MI Emirates: AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kusal Perera, Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton and Muhammad Waseem.

Sharjah Warriorz: Johnson Charles,  Kusal Mendis, Tim Southee and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

DP World ILT20 Season 4 — new signings:

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: Alex Hales, Liam Livingstone and Sherfane Rutherford.

Desert Vipers: Andries Gous.

Dubai Capitals: Luke Wood, Waqar Salamkheil and Muhammad Jawadullah.

Gulf Giants: Azmatullah Omarzai, Moeen Ali, Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

MI Emirates: Chris Woakes and Kamindu Mendis.

Sharjah Warriorz: Maheesh Theekshana, Sikandar Raza, Saurabh Netravalkar and Tim David.


Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations

Updated 22 December 2025
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Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations

  • Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco
  • Win saw Morocco, Africa’s best team in FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches

RABAT: Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El-Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday.
Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.
Substitute El-Kaabi then got the second with a stunning overhead kick, and the victory on a wet and cold night sets the Atlas Lions up for the potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia.
The result also allowed Morocco, Africa’s best team in the FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches.
The game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan — who appeared on the pitch ahead of kick-off — and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.
Morocco’s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi also ended up watching the entire game from the bench, with coach Walid Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November.
It looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed.
But Rahimi’s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors then succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.

- Stunning overhead kick -

However Morocco, who also saw veteran center-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time.
Comoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago who are 108th in the world rankings, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes.
Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet quite fully fit, picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and squared for Real Madrid’s Spanish-born number 10 Diaz to score.
Morocco, who had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up although Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal.
Mazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El-Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, lit up the occasion by meeting a cross in from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to make it 2-0.
Morocco’s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday.
Elsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakech before Mohamed Salah’s Egypt — the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010 — get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B.
This latest edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.