Organisers of the DP World International League T20 say the tournament will be boosted by the involvement of Pakistan players in the second season of the competition.
The country’s players were prevented from playing when the UAE’s new franchise league had its inaugural season at the start of this year.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board is set to permit its players to be involved when the competition returns in January and February next year.
“It is big news for the ILT20 that the PCB will be issuing [no objection certificates] to its players,” Subhan Ahmed, the chief operating officer of the ILT20, told The National.
“We are hopeful of seeing top quality Pakistani players featuring in ILT20 in season two. It will give a boost to the competition, and we are looking forward to it.”
Which Pakistan players feature is yet to be confirmed. The competition concludes just before the start of the country’s own franchise competition, the Pakistan Super League.
It also overlaps with competitions like the Big Bash League in Australia, the Bangladesh Premier League, and the new South African T20 event.
Players like Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim have been regulars in Australia’s Big Bash League in the past.
However, the stars of Pakistan cricket could be tempted to switch to the UAE competition given the enviable salaries on offer.
“We have had discussions with the PCB about the availability and timings,” Subhan said.
“So long as there are no clashes in terms of their commitments, the players will be made available.
“We do understand that, because of the crowded calendar, there is always difficulties finding an exclusive window where everyone is available.
“But we are trying to find slots where the Pakistani players will be available to play in ILT20.”
The inclusion of star players from Pakistan could help attract spectators to the stadiums. Although the first season of ILT20 was well received by the players involved, and over 20,000 saw Gulf Giants beat Desert Vipers in the final, attendances were generally low for most matches.
Expatriate supporters of Pakistan previously had a surfeit of chances to see their compatriots playing on the fields of the UAE.
The national team played almost all of their home fixtures in the country for a decade after an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in 2009 meant touring sides opted out of travelling there over security concerns. The early seasons of the PSL were also staged in the Emirates.
Since international cricket has returned to Pakistan, visits to the UAE have been fewer. They appeared at the World T20 in 2021, then the Asia Cup the following year, and played a bilateral series against Afghanistan in March of this year.
Subhan believes the chance to see Pakistan’s stars in the flesh again will bring supporters back to the stadiums.
“There is a big subcontinental expat population here, especially from India and Pakistan,” he said.
“People will be looking forward to seeing their heroes in action at our grounds in our event, so we are looking forward to their participation.”
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Muguruza's singles career in stats
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Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
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- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
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The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
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Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
EA Sports FC 24
