ILT20 Team-by-Team Guide: Could 9/1 Giants spring a surprise?

• Dubai Capitals eye back-to-back wins

• Knight Riders reliably messy

• Gulf Giants as smart as any outfit

• Squads, possible XIs and two-year player win rates

• Vipers overrated with UAE players an issue

MI Emirates 11/53.20

Last 2 years: 4/W
Batting rank: 1
Bowling rank: 1
Top bat win rate: Pooran 38%
Top bowler win rate: Farooqi 42%

Squad: AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kusal Perera, Muhammad Waseem, Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton, Chris Woakes, Kamindu Mendis, Muhammad Rohid, Jordan Thompson, Naveen-ul-Haq, Andre Fletcher, Nosthush Kenjige, Mohamed Shafeeq, Zain Ul Abidin, Usman Khan, Ackeem Auguste, Arab Gul, Tajinder Dhillon, Zahoor Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Nic Pooran, Kieron Pollard

Possible XI: Waseem, Fletcher, Banton, Pooran, Pollard, Shepherd, Shakib, Thompson, Ghazanfar, Farooqi, Rohid

Analysis: The top-ranked team in terms of data and odds. Fair enough. Nic Pooran and the word wildcard don't go together. The negatives are the loss of 16-wicket Alzarri Joseph, Shakib-al-Hasan making our XI and an ageing skip in Kieron Pollard. They improve on fourth last season, though. 

Desert Vipers 3/14.00

Last 2 years: RU/5
Batting rank: 2
Bowling rank: 3
Top bat win rate: Fakhar Zaman 22%
Top bowler win rate: Lockie Ferguson 62% (eight games)

Squad: Dan Lawrence, David Payne, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Lockie Ferguson, Max Holden, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Andries Gous, Shimron Hetmyer, Vriitya Aravind, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Qais Ahmad, Sanjay Pahal, Bilal Tahir, Faisal Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Tom Bruce, Matiullah Khan, Tawanda Muyeye, Faridoon Dawoodzai

Possible XI: Fakhar, Gous, Lawrence, Holden, Hetmyer, S Curran, Hasaranga, Aravind, Payne, Ferguson, Tanveer

Analysis: There's not much to like about this line-up, not least the probability that they have to hide two UAE players somewhere. They are the weakest team in the competition in terms of homegrown ability it seems. Sam Curran and Wanindu Hasaranga to get them out of trouble late on with ball and bat. Keeping Lockie Ferguson fit is essential. Mohammad Amir's wicket threat is a miss. A poor price on the outright.

Dubai Capitals 10/34.33

Last 2 years: W/RU
Batting rank: 3
Bowling rank: 5
Top bat win rate: Hope 33%
Top bowler win rate: Chameera 37%

Squad: Dasun Shanaka, Dushmantha Chameera, Gulbadin Naib, Rovman Powell, Shai Hope, Luke Wood, Waqar Salamkheil, Muhammad Jawadullah, David Willey, Leus de Plooy, Muhammad Farooq, Tymal Mills, Scott Currie, Mohammad Nabi, Farhan Khan, Anudeep Chenthamara, Usman Najeeb, Ritesh Mallikarjuna Grandhi, Shayan Jahangir, Rushil Ugarkar, Naveen Bidiasee, Toby Albert, Akshay Wakhare

Possible XI: Cox, Du Plooy, Naib, Shanaka, Powell, Willey, L Wood, Farooq, Chameera, Salamkheil, Jawadullah

Analysis: The champs have focussed on improving their bowling and with UAE pacer Mohammad Jawadullah and mystery spinner Waqar Salamkheill joining they have done a decent job. UAE all-rounder Muhammad Farooq means they won't worry about their balance. Shai Hope could miss all but one group game so Jordan Cox is expected to sign in the second week of December. 

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 11/26.50

Last 2 years: 6/4
Batting rank: 4
Bowling rank: 4
Top bat win rate: Hales 26%
Top bowler win rate: Holder 42%

Squad: Jason Holder (c), Andre Russell, Alishan Sharafu, Charith Asalanka, Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Alex Hales, Liam Livingstone, Sherfane Rutherford, Usman Tariq, Michael Pepper, George Garton, Brandon McMullen, Ibrar Ahmed, Ajay Kumar, Adnan Idrees Muhammad, Abdul Manan Ali, Mayank Chowdary, Khary Pierre, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Unmukt Chand, Piyush Chawla

Possible XI: Salt, Hales, Sharafu, Livingstone, Russell, Holder, Narine, Manan, Adnan Idrees, Tariq, van Shlakwyk

Analysis: Knight Riders have been consistently average across the three editions and there doesn't appear to be a huge amount of common sense involved in recruitment. Explain Piyush Chawla as a wildcard. They are horribly light on pace  and appear to be reliant on a trio of veterans in Hales, Russell and Narine.

Sharjah Warriors 6/17.00

Last 2 years: 3/6
Batting rank: 5
Bowling rank: 6
Top bat win rate: Charles 30%
Top bowler win rate: n/a

Squad: Johnson Charles, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tim Southee, Sikandar Raza, Maheesh Theekshana, Saurabh Netravalkar, Tim David, Dinesh Karthik, Tom Abell, Adil Rashid, Junaid Siddique, James Rew, Nathan Sowter, Dwaine Pretorius, Jayden Seales, Harmeet Singh, Wasim Akram, Mohamed Nawfer Mohamed Aslam, Raees Ahmad, Richard Ngarava, Shubham Ranjane, Ethan D'Souza, Taskin Ahmed, Abdul Salman Khan

Possible XI: Charles, Kohler-Cadmore, Abell, David, Raza, De Souza, Pretorius, Adil Rashid, Taskin, Sowter/Ngarava, Siddique, 

Analysis: Warriors have decided to pin their hopes on the middle order power of Tim David and Sikandar Raza, who joins from Dubai. Junaid Siddique is a good UAE operator with the ball but they look likely to be hiding their second player, probably batter Ethan D'Souza. With poor bat and ball data they don't seem to have done enough with recruitment. The best thing about them is that Johnson Charles win rate.

Gulf Giants 9/110.00

Last 2 years: 5/3
Batting rank: 6
Bowling rank: 2
Top bat win rate: Vince 27%
Top bowler win rate: Afzal 28%

Squad: Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Gerhard Erasmus, Mark Adair, James Vince, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Moeen Ali, Kyle Mayers, Matthew Forde, Asif Khan, Zuhaib Zubair, Sean Dickson, Tabraiz Shamsi, Liam Dawson, Fred Klaassen, Haider Razzaq, Meet Bhavsar, Ishtiaq Ahmad, Lorcan Tucker, Chris Wood, Tom Moores, Ramon Simmonds

Possible XI: Vince, Gurbaz, Erasmus, Azmatullah, Asif Khan, Moeen, Dawson, Adair/Forde, Afzal Khan, Muzarabani, Shamsi

Analysis: The Giants are relying on Afghan power in new signings Gurbaz and Azmatullah to improve their strike rate with the bat. They have retained a strong bowling unit with Muzarabani, Adair and the UAE's Afzal Khan taking 39 wickets between them last season. They have been underrated and can certainly match the likes of Vipers, Warriors and Knight Riders in ability. And outsmart the latter two. The one true wrong price.

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