The third edition of ILT20 will clash with SA20, Big Bash League (BBL), Super Smash (New Zealand) and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) early next year. The six-team franchise competition in the UAE will run from January 11 to February 9, 2025, a very similar window to that of SA20.
The third edition of the SA20 will take place from January 9 to February 8, while the BBL will begin on December 15 and will run until January 27, 2025. The BPL will begin on December 30 and conclude on February 7, 2025. The Smash competition in New Zealand will take place from December 26 to February 2.
The BBL had suffered a mass exodus of foreign players for last season’s finals when ILT20 began on January 19, but some foreign players were at least able to play most of the regular season before leaving for the UAE.
This time also several players will face the riddle of the clash. David Warner has decided to play the entire season for Sydney Thunder, as captain, in the BBL, meaning he will not be available for Dubai Capitals in ILT20 until January 17, or for another 10 days if Thunder reach the finals.
New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has decided to go the other way. He will start playing for Thunder in the BBL with Warner, but will then leave for the ILT20 to be available for Desert Vipers, who had retained him. A similar clash will be on the cards for Jake Fraser-McGurk (Melbourne Renegades/Dubai Capitals), Matthew Wade (Hobart Hurricanes/Sharjah Warriorz), Chris Jordan (Hurricanes/Gulf Giants), Shai Hope (Hurricanes/Dubai Capitals) and others. .
Other stars have remained in the ILT20, such as Andre Russell (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Warner (Dubai Capitals), Rovman Powell (Dubai Capitals), Shimron Hetmyer (Gulf Giants). ), Nicholas Pooran (MI Emirates). Additionally, Jason Roy (Sharjah Warriorz), Fakhar Zaman (Desert Vipers) and Wade will make their debut in the competition next year.
In total 34 matches will be played in the tournament, with the final at the Dubai International Stadium. Fifteen matches will be played at the Dubai International Stadium, 11 at the Zayed cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi and eight in Sharjah. Night matches will begin at 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and at 6:00 p.m. on weekends. On double-header weekends, afternoon matches will be played starting at 2:00 p.m.
David White, ILT20 chief executive, admitted January-February 2025 was a crowded window with the “additional complications” of the Champions Trophy. It had said ILT20 would examine all options which would include moving the window to the October-November period. However, ultimately the ILT20, which received ICC List A status ahead of the 2024 season, decided to stick to the same window in which the tournament had been played for the past two years.
Earlier this year, the PCB had announced a move to push the PSL to an April-May window, in an effort to avoid an increasingly crowded December-February window, although that would result in a clash with the IPL.
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