The Desert Vipers have announced an impressive list of new players who will join the squad for season four of the DP World ILT20 following the tournament’s inaugural auction held in Dubai earlier today.
A total of twelve players were purchased by the Desert Vipers at the auction and CEO Phil Oliver, who made the official bids, said the entire management was more than happy with the outcome: “We are really pleased to be looking forward to season four of the DP World ILT20 and it has been a fantastic afternoon and evening. Click here for the full video interview.
“We are very happy with what we have got. It has been an exciting development with (DP World) ILT20, being able to enter an auction.”
Headlining the Desert Vipers shopping spree in Dubai were their three Pakistan acquisitions – fast bowler Naseem Shah plus top-order batters Hasan Nawaz and Fakhar Zaman.
Fakhar Zaman returns to the Vipers after a successful debut in season three, during which he made 222 runs in nine matches at a strike-rate of 134.54, including two half-centuries.
Since that tournament, the top-order batter starred for the Lahore Qalanders in the latest edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), scoring 439 runs with a strike-rate of 152.96, making him the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament for the season.
Speaking about Fakhar, Phil Oliver explained the team’s rationale in bringing him back: “With Fakhar we know what we get with him. He was obviously a big success for us last year. He is a high-quality batter who can open the innings and bat a little bit lower down so he provides some flexibility but what is important is also the character of the player.
“He is a fantastic leader, is great around the group and he is a very important piece of our jigsaw. We are delighted to have him.”
Fakhar’s fellow countryman, fast bowler Naseem Shah, is lined up to feature in the DP World ILT20 for the first time. The 22-year-old recently starred for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the latest edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with 17 wickets, and he took nine wickets for Islamabad United in the 2025 PSL.
Photo by Satish Kumar / CREIMAS for ILT20
Phil Oliver said Naseem’s speed and flexibility made him a top pick:
“He (Naseem Shah) is explosive, and he has a lot of pace, and he can bowl in all stages of the innings, in all three phases.
“He is going to be a real threat for us with the ball and we are excited to have him because he has that X-factor.”
The Vipers secured the services of a third Pakistan player at the auction by picking up Hasan Nawaz.
The 23-year-old has played three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 22 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for his country and was part of the squad that reached the final of the recent Asia Cup in the UAE. His hitting power marks him out as an exceptional player in the shortest format and in March 2025 he scored a remarkable 105 not out from only 45 balls against New Zealand in Auckland, the fastest T20I hundred by a Pakistan batter, as his side successfully chased 205 to win, crossing the line with four overs in hand.
In the 2025 PSL Hasan scored 399 runs for Quetta Gladiators at a strike rate of 162.19, making him the third highest run-scorer in the tournament. That haul included 100 from 45 balls against Islamabad United in Rawalpindi.
Phil Oliver said about the batter: “Hasan Nawaz is a power striker and a fantastic talent. And talking of X-factor, he is very much that.
“He had a fantastic PSL, and obviously we kept a close eye on him thereafter, and he is flexible as well. He has got an amazing boundary percentage and he clears the ropes, so he can bat in a variety of positions across the top order and could be a finisher option as well for us. So he is a really good pick.”
Leg-spinner Qais Ahmad returns to the DP World ILT20 for the fourth successive season and the Vipers will be his fourth different team, having previously featured for Gulf Giants, Sharjah Warriorz and last season Dubai Capitals.
The Afghanistan spin bowler has vast white-ball experience around the world in the Big Bash League (Australia), the Lanka Premier League (Sri Lanka), the T20 Blast and The Hundred (England and Wales) and the Caribbean Premier League (West Indies). Qais is capped across all formats for his country.
The Vipers snapped up UAE all-rounder Sanjay Pahal, who featured for the Desert Vipers Development team in the recent ILT20 Development Tournament. He was named player of the tournament for a superb all-round contribution that saw him score 157 runs at a strike-rate of 215 and take 12 wickets.
Another UAE signing was Vriitya Aravind, the first player to be sold in the auction. At just 23 years of age he is, nevertheless, very experienced and offers the Vipers flexibility as he can fulfil a role as a top-order batter and a wicketkeeper.
He is also no stranger to the DP World ILT20 as he featured for MI Emirates in season one and was part of Dubai Capitals’ line-up for the latest edition.
The Vipers completed their UAE list with the signing of Matiullah Khan, an experienced right-arm seam bowler and another player who was part of the Desert Vipers Development Tournament squad. He has played five T20Is for the UAE in 2025, against Bangladesh, Kenya and Nigeria and also featured in a ODI against the USA in Windhoek in 2023.
The Vipers secured the first Saudi Arabia player bought at the auction, batter Faisal Khan. The 28-year-old is his country’s leading run-scorer in T20Is in the past year and his overall record is impressive – 1743 runs in the international format with one hundred and 10 fifties, all scored at an exceptional strike-rate of 173.43. That hundred, 101, was scored from only 42 balls against Cambodia in Doha in November 2024.
The Kuwaiti signing for the franchise was Bilal Tahir, one of only seven players to play 50 or more T20Is for his country. A 27-year-old left-handed batter, he has hit 45 sixes in 58 matches and has an excellent strike-rate of 136.26.
The Vipers had to sign two non-UAE Associate players in their squad and having already contracted Andries Gous, the USA wicketkeeper-batter, their choice at the auction was Scotland’s Thomas Bruce. The right-handed batter made his Scotland debut in August, against Canada, the first of two ODIs he has played, but he featured in 17 T20Is for New Zealand between 2017 and 2020. He qualifies for Scotland through his father, who was born in Edinburgh.
The Vipers’ final successful bid of the auction secured Zimbabwe-born batter Tawanda Muyeye, someone who had a significant impact in domestic cricket in England and Wales in 2025.
The 24-year-old made 516 runs for county side Kent in this year’s T20 Blast, one of only seven players to top 500 runs in the tournament, and he was also a key member of the Oval Invincibles squad – coached by Desert Vipers Director of Cricket Tom Moody – that won the men’s Hundred for the third successive season.
Muyeye made 183 runs at a strike-rate of 147.58 in this year’s Hundred, the fourth-highest run-scorer for the Invincibles in their successful campaign.
Reflecting on the auction process Phil Oliver said it went smoothly from the franchise’s perspective as they were left with almost half a million dollars in purse money: “I think it shows that you have done a pretty good job.
“I think it shows the hard work and impact that the whole team have had together. Tom Moody was on the line from Australia, Freddie Wilde, our analyst, was also with us virtually, and everyone worked together on this. James Foster, our Head Coach, had an input as well, and everyone has put a lot into it, so it is really nice to reflect well on a job well done.”
Desert Vipers Squad
Players recruited at the auction:
Bilal Tahir (KUW)
Faisal Khan (KSA)
Fakhar Zaman (PAK)
Faridoon Dawoodzai (AFG)
Hasan Nawaz (PAK)
Matiullah Khan (UAE)
Naseem Shah (PAK)
Sanjay Pahal (UAE)
Thomas Bruce (SCO)
Tawanda Muyeye (ENG)
Vriitya Aravind (UAE)
Qais Ahmad (AFG)
Retained players:
Lockie Ferguson (capt) (NZ)
Dan Lawrence (ENG)
David Payne (ENG)
Khuzaima Bin Tanveer (UAE)
Max Holden (ENG)
Sam Curran (ENG)
Wanindu Hasaranga (SL)
Direct Signing:
Andries Gous (USA)
Wildcard signing:
Shimron Hetmyer (WI)
