The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) is a professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the International League T20, a men's Twenty20 league hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board. The franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, a sporting subsidiary alliance between the Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group. Their home ground is the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
History In August 2022, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) announced the establishment of the International League T20, a Twenty20 cricket competition to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing 6 different cities of United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi, were put up on auction in UAE in September 2022. The Abu Dhabi franchise was purchased & revealed by Kolkata Knight Riders, part of Knight Riders Franchise. The team unveiled their logo and jersey in January 2023, through their social media handles.
Home ground The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi (with the two ends of the crease called the North End and the Pavilion End) serves as the home ground of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. It is operated by the Emirates Cricket Board and is the third-oldest cricket stadium in the country. It is also the second-largest stadium in the UAE in terms of crowd capacity, with over 20,000 seats. In 2021, The stadium hosted some matches of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the tournament was shifted to UAE after the original hosts India were unable to host the tournament due to the outbreak of second-wave of COVID-19 in the whole country. The stadium also served as the home ground for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2020 and 2021 editions respectively.
Captains
Player Tenure Matches Won LostNRSunil Narine 2023 - 2025 32 9 22 1 Andre Russell 2024 1 1 - -Jason Holder 2025 - 2026 10 4 6 -
Statistics
Standings & Season Summary SeasonPlayedWinsLossesNRLeague standingFinal standing2023101816th out of 6League Stage2024115 6–4th out of 6Playoffs202510376th out of 6League Stage202612573rd out of 6Playoffs
Team statistics TeamSpanPlayedWonLostNR Gulf Giants2023–8431 Dubai Capitals1028 rowspan="4" Desert Vipers835 MI Emirates918 Sharjah Warriors844
Current squad NameNationalityBatting styleBowling styleBatsmenAlishan Sharafu Right-handed Right-arm medium Laurie Evans Right-handed Right-arm off break Charith AsalankaLeft-handedRight-arm off breakWicket-Keepers Michael Pepper Right-handed rowspan=4 Joe Clarke Right-handed Andries Gous Right-handed Phil Salt Right-handedAll-rounders Sunil Narine Left-handed Right-arm off breakJason Holder (c)Right-handed Right-arm fast medium Andre Russell Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium David Willey Left-handed Left-arm fast-medium Kyle Mayers Left-handed Right-arm medium Roston Chase Right-handed Right-arm off breakBowlersAli Khan Right-handed Right-arm fast-mediumAdhitya ShettyRight-handed Right-arm leg breakGudakesh MotieLeft-handed Slow left-arm orthodoxIbrar AhmedRight-handed Right-arm fast mediumShahid BhuttaRight-handedRight-arm fast mediumSufiyan MuqeemLeft-handed Left-arm chinnamanTerrance HindsRight-handedRight-arm fast mediumVijayakanth ViyaskanthRight-handedRight-arm leg break
Administration and support staff PositionNameCEO/Managing Director Venky MysoreTeam manager Adrian Wayne BentleyHead coach Dwayne BravoAssistant coachRyan ten Doeschate
Knight Riders Group Kolkata Knight Riders Trinbago Knight Riders (Men's) Los Angeles Knight Riders Trinbago Knight Riders (Women's)
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References