Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
 | ||
| League | International League T20 | |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel | ||
| Captain | Sunil Narine[1] | |
| Coach | Bharathi Arun | |
| Owner | Knight Riders Group | |
| Chief executive | Venky Mysore | |
| Manager | Wayne Bentley | |
| Team information | ||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Colours | Purple and gold | |
| Founded | 2022 | |
| Home ground | Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi | |
| Capacity | 20,000 | |
| Official website | www | |
| ||
| Seasons |
|---|
| Knight Riders Group | |
|---|---|
| Current Teams | |
Kolkata Knight Riders (2008-present) X 3 (2012, 2014, 2024)Trinbago Knight Riders (2015-present) X 4 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020)Trinbago Knight Riders Women (2022-present) X 1 (2022)Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (2023-present) Los Angeles Knight Riders (2023-present) | |
| Defunct Teams | |
| Cape Town Knight Riders (2017) |
The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) is a professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the International League T20, a men's Twenty20 league hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board.[2] The franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, a sporting subsidiary alliance between the Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group. [3] Their home ground is the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
History
[edit]In August 2022, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) announced the establishment of the International League T20, a Twenty20 Cricket competition to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing 6 different cities of United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi, were put up on auction in UAE in September 2022. The Abu Dhabi franchise was purchased & revealed by Kolkata Knight Riders, part of Knight Riders Franchise. The team unveiled their logo and jersey in January 2023, through their social media handles.
Home ground
[edit]The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi (with the two ends of the crease called the North End and the Pavilion End) is serving as the home ground of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. It is operated by the Emirates Cricket Board and is the third-oldest cricket stadium in the country. It is also the second-largest stadium in the United Arab Emirates in terms of crowd capacity with the stadium having over 20,000 seats. In 2021, The stadium hosted some matches of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the tournament was shifted to UAE after the original hosts India were unable to host the tournament due to the outbreak of second-wave of COVID-19 among the whole country. The stadium also served as the home ground for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2020 and 2021 editions respectively.
Captains
[edit]| Player[a] | Tenure | Matches | Won | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sunil Narine
|
2023-Present | 26 | 8 | 18 |
| Andre Russell
|
2024 | 1 | 1 | - |
| Last Updated: 26 January 2025 | ||||
Statistics
[edit]Season summary
[edit]| Season | League standing | Final standing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6th out of 6 | League Stage | ||||
| 2024 | 4th out of 6 | Playoffs | ||||
| 2025 | TBA | |||||
| Last Updated: 25 January 2025 | ||||||
Overall results
[edit]| Year | Played | Wins | Losses | Tied | NR | Win % | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 10 | 1 | 8 | — | 1 | 11.11 | 6/6 |
| 2024 | 11 | 5 | 6 | — | 45.45 | 4/6 | |
| 2025 | 8 | 3 | 5 | ||||
| Last Updated: 25 January 2025 | |||||||
Against Teams
[edit]| Team | Span | Played | Won | Lost | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Capitals | 2023-2025 | 6 | 1 | 5 | — |
| Desert Vipers | 2023-2025 | 6 | 2 | 4 | |
| Gulf Giants | 2023-2025 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| MI Emirates | 2023-2025 | 6 | 1 | 5 | — |
| Sharjah Warriors | 2023-2025 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Last Updated: 25 January 2025 | |||||
Current squad
[edit]| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||
| Alishan Sharafu |  United Arab Emirates |
10 January 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium |
| Laurie Evans |  England |
12 October 1987 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break |
| Charith Asalanka |  Sri Lanka
|
29 June 1997 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break |
| Wicket-Keepers | ||||
| Michael Pepper | England |
25 June 1998 | Right-handed | — |
| Joe Clarke | England |
26 May 1996 | Right-handed | |
| Andries Gous |  United States |
24 November 1993 | Right-handed | |
| Philip Salt | England
|
Right-handed | ||
| All-rounders | ||||
| Sunil Narine (c) | West Indies |
26 May 1988 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break |
| Jason Holder | West Indies
|
Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| Andre Russell | West Indies |
29 April 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium |
| David Willey | England |
28 February 1990 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium |
| Kyle Mayers | West Indies |
Left-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Roston Chase | West Indies |
Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Bowlers | ||||
| Ali Khan | United States |
13 December 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium |
| Adhitya Shetty | United Arab Emirates
|
Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Gudakesh Motie | West Indies
|
Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Ibrar Ahmed | United Arab Emirates
|
Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| Shahid Bhutta | United Arab Emirates
|
|||
| Sufiyan Muqeem |  Pakistan
|
Left-handed | Left-arm chinnaman | |
| Terrance Hinds | West Indies
|
|||
| Vijayakanth Viyaskanth | Sri Lanka
|
Right-arm leg break | ||
| WORK IN PROGRESS. NOT COMPLETED. | ||||
Administration & support staff
[edit]| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| CEO/Managing Director | Venky Mysore |
| Team Manager | Adrian Wayne Bentley |
| Head Coach | |
| Physio | |
| Assistant Coach | Riyan Ten Doeschate |
Knight Riders Group
[edit]- Kolkata Knight Riders
- Trinbago Knight Riders (Men's)
- Los Angeles Knight Riders
- Trinbago Knight Riders (Women's)
Notes
[edit]- ^ The information in the nationality column is according to ESPNcricinfo. This information may not necessarily reflect the player's birthplace or citizenship.
References
[edit]- ^ "SUNIL NARINE APPOINTED SKIPPER OF ABU DHABI KNIGHT RIDERS FOR THE UPCOMING ILT20 LEAGUE IN UAE". adkriders. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
- ^ "Knight Riders Acquires Abu Dhabi Franchise in the New T20 League in UAE". Kolkata Knight Riders. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
- ^ "ILT20 brings 'Smartball's' 'Smarter Play' technology to its inaugural tournament". www.adkriders.com. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2023.