Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard will be back in the same dressing-room this winter, MI Emirates confirming the two Trinidadians as their wild-card picks for the fourth International League T20. The pair enjoyed trophy-lifting summers with Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL and MI New York in Major League Cricket, so there’s obvious logic in keeping a tried-and-tested partnership together.
Pooran, 30 next week, continues to file an increasingly unusual career path. He announced his international retirement at 29 yet still manages a workload that would exhaust most. Alongside this ILT20 stint he is listed with MI Cape Town in South Africa’s SA20, a competition that overlaps for several weeks. If all goes to plan he could in theory bat in three time zones inside a fortnight.
Pollard, 38, remains the heartbeat of the wider MI franchise network. His playing role is slimmer these days, but ask anyone in that set-up and you’ll hear the same refrain: “He still runs the room.” Pooran calls him a “big brother”, while MI executives talk up the experience he passes to younger recruits.
The Caribbean flavour was already strong at MI Emirates. Andre Fletcher, who fetched the top price of USD 260,000 at October’s auction, Romario Shepherd and youngster Ackeem Auguste are all on the books. Afghan quick Fazalhaq Farooqi, England trio Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Tom Banton, plus Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan add further depth. The squad in full is listed below for clarity.
The tournament opens on 2 December, matches spread across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and runs until 4 January. Six sides will play 34 games in total, including a short play-off phase—straightforward enough even if you’ve only got a loose grasp of T20 scheduling.
Auction signings
Andre Fletcher (USD 260k), Muhammad Rohid (140k), Naveen-ul-Haq (100k), Jordan Thompson (48k), Shakib Al Hasan (40k), Nosthush Kenjige, Mohamed Shafeeq, Zain Ul Abidin, Usman Khan, Ackeem Auguste, Arab Gul, Tajinder Dhillon, Zahoor Khan (all 10k).
Retained / direct signings
Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tom Banton, Romario Shepherd, Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow, AM Ghazanfar, Muhammad Waseem, Kamindu Mendis.
Wild-cards
Nicholas Pooran, Kieron Pollard.
A familiar mix of power-hitters, canny bowlers and experienced heads, then. Whether it converts into silverware is another matter, but few sides will fancy defending 180 when Pooran and Pollard are both padded up.
