New Delhi: Dubai Capitals on Sunday named former India all-rounder Yusuf Pathan as captain of their side for the remainder of the inaugural season of ILT20, currently being held in the UAE.
The Dubai Capitals are currently taking on the MI Emirates in their last league match of the tournament at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. As things stand, the Dubai Capitals are currently placed fifth on the points table 7 points from 9 matches with the help of 3 wins. Pathan will replace West Indies' Rovman Powell at the helm of affairs. No reason has been cited by the franchise for changing the captain.
It is pertinent to note that Dubai's match against MI Emirates is the team's last regular-season match and only a win can help them proceed to the business end of the competition. Even though Powell has only managed to lead the team to 3 wins which seem them in a must-win situation in a 6-team competition, he has been brilliant with the bat and is in fact the the side's leading run-scorer with 320 runs at an average of 53.33 before this match.
The final group-stage match of the competition is scheduled to be played on Monday (January 6 ) between Sharjah Warrios and Gulf Giants.
As far as Yusuf is concerned, the all-rounder has lifted the Indian Premier League trophy thrice apart from being a part of India's 2007 T20 World Cup winning campign. He would want to bring all his experience into play first to help his team win the final league match to head into the business end of the competition and then to try and get them to the title.
A vastly experienced campaigner, Yusuf has 274 T20 caps to his credit in which he has scored 4.852 runs including a famous 37-ball 100 in an IPL game for the Rajasthan Royals. He even has 99 wickets alongside his name. He has donned the Indian colours in 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is. He played a key part recently in India Legends' victorious run in the Road Safety World Series. He also participated in the T10 League Cricket as well as Legends League Cricket.
(With inputs from IANS)