Simon Doull excited about development of ILT20

Dubai, 24 January 2024: The second season of the ILT20 is up and running with plenty of action and fireworks. Former New Zealand cricketer and now commentator Simon Doull is excited on being a part of a star-studded commentary panel for the tournament. Simon is full of praise for the work put into growing the league with more involvement of the locals and schools and sees a good chance of the tournament becoming one of the biggest franchise leagues in the world. 

When asked about how he sees the tournament’s development from season 1 to season 2, the former New Zealand pacer said, “I think the growth has been great. The interest around the tournament this year compared to last year has really ramped up. The locals have been involved, schools have been involved as a result of which students bring their parents along for games and obviously there is the inclusion of world-class players.  

“Players have learnt more about the venues. I’m really excited to see how it’s developed and will continue to develop to become the second biggest tournament in the world behind the one we all know is the biggest.” 

Speaking about the teams participating in the ILT20, he said, “I think the Gulf Giants have a really good side. They’ve retained the bulk of their players from last season. Abu Dhabi Knight Riders have started well too after retaining the majority of their players and adding a couple. I think all the teams have looked upon their first season and thought to themselves that they need to get better.  

“The local players are getting better too with more exposure and more bilateral tournaments as a result of which the overall standard gets better. I would say Gulf Giants are looking good for two in two but I wouldn’t write any team off.”  

He further added, “David Warner, I’m sure, will set the tournament ablaze for the Delhi Capitals so I would say they are contenders too.” 

The Pakistani cricketers weren’t a part of the first season but their inclusion in the second season certainly raises the quality of cricket according to Simon Doull. He said, “I think it’s wonderful that we have some of the quality Pakistan players here. We missed their influence in the previous season. They garner a lot of support from the Pakistani expats here in the UAE and also bring so much quality into the tournament. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the guys perform.” 

The 54-year-old who represented New Zealand in 32 Tests and 42 ODIs believes that UAE cricket is headed in the right direction. “It might take some time for UAE to be able to consistently do well against the top international sides but the local players will only get better by playing in these types of tournaments and mixing and mingling with these high quality international and overseas players.  

“Right now, we have a minimum of two local players to be included but I’d love to see an additional local U21 player being included from next season to make it a minimum of three locals and then maybe after a couple of years from then, another local player. That way, with six teams we’d have 24 and perhaps if the tournament develops to having eight teams, we’ll have 32 players of local origin,” he said. 

On being on the ILT20’s status amongst T20 leagues around the world, Doull said, “They aren’t too far away. I think they can get more consistent if they play the bigger teams. They’ve spent the last few years playing the second-tier cricket nations like Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Canada and USA.  

“If the UAE starts travelling to countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, etc. and play a couple of games, they’ll see the level of cricket and find themselves winning more games. I think T20 is the way to go forward. I think if we can get more teams to stop here and play against the UAE, they will surely improve their cricket.”