Ahead of their upcoming season in the ILT20, MI Emirates have added the two West Indian players, Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran, as wildcards in the fourth season. After Major League Cricket and the previous season in ILT20, this will be another occasion when these two will play for the same franchise on a global platform.
The International League T20, ILT20, marked MI Emirates’ title win in 2024, when Nicholas Pooran managed them and Kieron Pollard was also part of the squad. Team selection has been completed ahead of the highly anticipated season. Pre-season is about to start and the Emirates will have their sights set on defending the trophy.
Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran join MI Emirates as wildcards
MI Emirates have added destructive West Indies match-winner Kieron Pollard as he continues his legacy for the Mumbai Indians franchise in various global competitions. Having played his entire career for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, he has now starred for them in both the MLC and ILT20.
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The legendary cricketer has won 18 T20 titles in his career and remains one of the greatest minds in the shortest format of the game. On the other hand, they have also brought in Nicholas Pooran in the MI Emirates line-up.
Pooran led MI Emirates to their maiden ILT20 title in 2024, and the two West Indian big hitters have joined forces to win the MLC for MI New York in 2023 and 2025 respectively. The two were part of the MI Emirates team for the past three seasons of the ILT20.
Pollard and Pooran’s record in the ILT20
Kieron Pollard, the legendary T20 all-rounder, has amassed more than 14,000 runs in various competitions throughout his career. After playing for MI Emirates in the ILT20, he scored 660 runs in 22 matches.
Pollard scored 394 points in 10 games in 2022/23 with an average of almost 80. He then scored 84 points in 2023/24, with an average of 42, and then added another 182 points, with an average of over 30 in ILT20 2024/25.
Nicholas Pooran has given more reason to celebrate, scoring more than 300 runs every season. Pooran scored 355, 354 and 301 runs across the three seasons in 31 matches.
All signings for MI Emirates ahead of the fourth ILT20 season
The headline for the MI Emirates was the inclusion of West Indian batsman Andre Fletcher for a whopping USD 260,000 for the fourth consecutive season, while England all-rounder Jordan Thompson and pacers Naveen-ul-Haq and Chris Woakes strengthened their bowling deck.
Muhammad Rohid was retained with the help of an RTM for $140,000. Jonny Bairstow, the Englishman, was brought in as a replacement and Kamindu Mendis was pre-signed by the Emirates. Shakib Al Hasan was their last-minute exclusion before the auction closed.
Full squad for MI Emirates: Muhammad Rohid, Jordan Thompson, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Andre Fletcher, Nosthush Kenjige, Mohamed Shafeeq, Zain Ul Abidin, Usman Khan, Ackeem Auguste, Arab Gul, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Tajinder Dhillon, Zahoor Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kamindu Mendis, Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton, Muhammad Waseem, Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow.
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