Sam Curran, Phil Salt to link up with the Desert Vipers in ILT20

Dubai, Feb 7 (IANS) England team-mates Sam Curran and Phil Salt are all set to link up with the Desert Vipers for the business end of this season of ILT20.

The duo will slot in with the Vipers losing Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Azam Khan ahead of the start of the Pakistan Super League, while Wanindu Hasaranga has returned to Sri Lanka for international duty.

Curran and Salt both arriving in Dubai off the back of appearances in the SA20 competition in South Africa – Phil for Pretoria Capitals and Sam with MI Cape Town – and both will bring with them exceptional CVs when it comes to shorter format of the game.

Sam was the player of the tournament when England won the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, finishing as the joint second-highest wicket-taker – level with new Vipers team-mate Bas de Leede and behind only Hasaranga, who took 15.

The sixth highest wicket-taker for England in men’s Twenty20 Internationals, in late 2022 Sam was snapped up by Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings for a then-record GBP1.85 million (IR18.5 crore).

Phil also has Indian Premier League experience, with the Delhi Capitals in 2023, and in December last year set the cricketing world alight with two hundreds during England’s five-match T20I series against the West Indies in the Caribbean.

Phil will become the Vipers’ second Wildcard selection for the 2023 edition of the ILT20 following fellow England batter Dan Lawrence.