Dubai,
With the DP World ILT20 Season 3 inching closer to the mega finale on Sunday, Pakistan bowling great Shoaib Akhtar backed the Sharjah Warriorz to bag the title.
Impressed by their late surge in the league, with a sensational eight-wicket win against defending champions MI Emirates to become the third team to qualify for the play-offs, the DP World ILT20 ambassador and commentator Akhtar said, “I think my heart goes for Sharjah Warriorz because they have started off very late when it comes to playing the tournament well. They gained the momentum to be in the place where they are today.”
The Warriorz face a tough opponent in MI Emirates in the eliminator to be played today at the iconic Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The winner of the eliminator will face Desert Vipers for a place in the Final. Backing the home team, Akhtar added, “While I don’t want to seem biased and wish to see all four teams play top quality cricket, I think it will be really good to see Sharjah go out there to claim the title.”
Talking about these standout performances, Akhtar opined, “DP World ILT20 is getting bigger and better every year. I am honoured to be part of the league for the second time. I think the numbers tell the truth when it comes to the TRPs and reach of the tournament. You can see the quality of players performing here.”
He further highlighted the depth of bowling talent in the league, and went on to underscore the performance of Fazalhaq Farooqi from MI Emirates, who leads as the highest wicket-taker amassing 20 wickets this season while Jason Holder picked up 17 wickets for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders and Alzarri Joseph of MI Emirates and Blessing Muzarabani of Gulf Giants have scalped 16 wickets each.
UAE’s rising star and Gulf Giants all-rounder Aayan Afzal Khan too has been a fan-favourite with 10 wickets in his kitty while Pakistan’s Khuzaima Bin Tanvir has been efficient for Desert Vipers with five wickets.
“Aayan also has a bright future in UAE cricket. The vision behind this league is to promote UAE cricket and this has been successfully achieved seeing the standout performances this season. Khuzaima (from Faisalabad) has also shown a lot of promise.”