ILT20 opening ceremony and Dubai Capitals vs Abu Dhabi Knight Riders preview

Dubai: Fans in the United Arab Emirates will feel the cricket frenzy in the air as the big-hitting Rovman Powell’s Dubai Capitals take on the mystery spinner Sunil Narine’s Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the opening match of the DP World International League T20 at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.

However, before the Dubai Capitals and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders go head-to-head in the first match of the season, superstar Badshah and megastar Jason Derulo will dazzle the crowd with their glamourous performances at the opening ceremony of the DP World ILT20 on Friday.

Badshah, who has produced the official DP World ILT20 Anthem ‘Halla Halla’, will enthral fans with his most popular numbers like Voodoo, Players, Jugnu, Mercy, and Kala Chashma along with a visually-stunning troop of 40 dancers supporting him. While Derulo will have the crowd on their feet with hit numbers Swalla, Take You Dancing, and In My Head, with six energetic dancers from the middle of the iconic stadium. Furthermore, Dwayne Bravo will put his musician’s hat on and engage the fans with his songs Champion and Run D World at the ‘Ring of Fire’ as well.

Also read: ILT20 2023 Full Squads, Schedule, Players List and more

The DP World ILT20 opening ceremony will be further elevated by the attendance of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, one of the biggest film stars in the world and co-owner of Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.

Dubai Capitals are packed with several exciting players such as Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Rajapaksa was adjudged the player of the match in the Asia Cup 2022 final against Pakistan for his brilliant innings of 71* runs from 45 balls at the Dubai International Stadium. Meanwhile, Mujeeb Ur Rahman picked up seven wickets in five matches at a fantastic average of 15.86 for Afghanistan in the competition. The Capitals also have Joe Root and Robin Uthappa, who are among the most experienced cricketers in the world. Uthappa has scored over 7,000 runs in T20s, while Root has notched over 17,000 runs in his international career.

The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders also boast an impressive, strong side with the likes of Brandon Glover, Andre Russell, Paul Stirling and Colin Ingram in their camp. Glover put up a fantastic performance with figures of 3/9 to help the Netherlands register a famous 13-run victory over South Africa in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year. Meanwhile, Russell, Stirling and Ingram boast of stupendous T20 records with over 7,000 runs each under their belts.

Speaking about the first match of the season, Dubai Capitals’ Captain Rovman Powell said, “We are very excited to play our first DP World ILT20 game. We arrived here about a week ago and have acclimatised to the conditions here in the UAE. Our team has many exciting players and all of them cannot wait to showcase their magic on the park, especially on our home ground.”

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders’ Captain Sunil Narine remarked, “It’s always lovely to play in the UAE. We have trained hard as a group in the last few days and we are absolutely ready to take on our first challenge. We have a balanced side and if we play at our best, we can certainly win more games than less. The DP World ILT20 is finally here and we are very excited to see how the tournament transpires.”

Doors will open for fans to catch the opening ceremony of the DP World ILT20 (Friday 13 January) from 4:00 pm GST (5:30 pm IST) with the electrifying Badshah and Derulo performances starting at 5:15 pm GST (6:45 pm IST), followed by the much anticipated first match of the league between Dubai Capitals and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders set to will kick off at 6.45 pm GST (8:15 pm IST).

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