Ahead of their upcoming season in the ILT20, MI Emirates have added two West Indies players, Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran as wildcards for the fourth season. After last season in Major League Cricket and ILT20, this will be another occasion when these two will play for the same franchise on the global stage.
The International League T20, ILT20 marked MI Emirates’ title win in 2024, when Nicholas Pooran led them, and Kieron Pollard was also a part of the squad. The team roster has been completed ahead of the highly anticipated season. Pre-season is set to begin soon and the Emirates will have their sights set on defending the trophy.
Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran join MI as wildcards at Emirates
MI Emirates has added West Indies’ devastating match-winner Kieron Pollard as he continues his legacy for the Mumbai Indians franchise in multiple global leagues. Having played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL throughout his career, he now plays for them in the MLC as well as the ILT20.
The legendary cricketer has won 18 T20 titles in his career and remains one of the greatest minds in the shortest format of the game. On the other hand, he has also called Nicholas Pooran in the MI Emirates lineup.
Pooran led MI Emirates to their maiden ILT20 title in 2024, and the two West Indies big hitters have joined hands to win the MLC for MI New York in 2023 and 2025 respectively. Both of them have been part of the MI Emirates team in the last three seasons of the ILT20.
Record of Pollard and Pooran in ILT20
Legendary T20 all-rounder Kieron Pollard has scored 14000+ runs across various leagues throughout his career. Playing for MI Emirates in the ILT20, he has scored 660 runs in 22 matches.
Pollard scored 394 runs in 10 matches at an average of around 80 in 2022/23. Subsequently in 2023/24, he scored 84 runs at an average of 42, and then added 182 runs at an average of over 30 in ILT20 2024/25.
Nicholas Pooran has given another reason to celebrate by scoring 300+ runs in every season. Pooran scored 355, 354 and 301 runs in 31 matches in three seasons.
All the signings for MI Emirates ahead of the fourth ILT20 season
The highlight for MI at Emirates was the signing of West Indies batsman Andre Fletcher for the fourth consecutive season for a whopping USD 260,000, while English all-rounder Jordan Thompson and fast bowlers Naveen-ul-Haq and Chris Woakes strengthened their bowling deck.
Muhammad Rohid was retained using RTM for US$140,000. Englishman Jonny Bairstow was included as a replacement, and Kamindu Mendis was pre-signed by the Emirates. Shakib Al Hasan was dropped in the last minute before the auction ended.
Full squad for MI Emirates: Mohammad Rohid, Jordan Thompson, Naveen-ul-Haq, Andre Fletcher, Nostush Kenjige, Mohammad Shafiq, Zain Ul Abedin, Usman Khan, Akeem Auguste, Arab Gul, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Tajinder Dhillon, Zahoor Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Kamindu Mendis, Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton, Muhammad Wasim, Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow.
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