A number of well-known athletes, including Chris Jordan, Shai Hope, and Ferguson, will collide with the BBL on the same calendar. Early in the following year, the SA20, the Big Bash League (BBL), the Super Smash (New Zealand), and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) would all face off against the third edition of the ILT20. Similar to the SA20, the UAE’s six-team franchise-based competition will take place between January 11 and February 9 of 2025.
The BBL will start on December 15 and go through January 27, 2025. While the third edition of the SA20 will take place from January 9 to February 8. In 2025, the BPL is scheduled to start on December 30 and end on February 7. In New Zealand, the Super Smash tournament will take place between December 26 and February 2.
A few foreign players were able to play the majority of the regular season before departing for the United Arab Emirates. But the BBL had experienced a big departure of overseas players for the finals previous season. When the ILT20 began on January 19.
This time, other participants will also encounter a clash dilemma. David Warner will not be available for the Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 until January 17 or for an additional 10 days. If the Thunder advance to the finals since he has chosen to play the entire season with the Sydney Thunder in the BBL as captain.
ILT20
Lockie Ferguson, a fast bowler from New Zealand, has made the opposite decision. He will begin playing for Warner’s Thunder in the BBL before departing for the ILT20 to make himself available to the Desert Vipers, who had signed him. Chris Jordan (Hurricanes/Gulf Giants), Matthew Wade (Hobart Hurricanes/Sharjah Warriorz), Shai Hope (Hurricanes/Dubai Capitals), Jake Fraser-McGurk (Melbourne Renegades/Dubai Capitals), and others will face off in a similar matchup.
Several additional players, including Nicholas Pooran (MI Emirates), Warner (Dubai Capitals), Rovman Powell (Dubai Capitals), Andre Russell (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), and Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), have been kept in the ILT20. Wade, Fakhar Zaman (Desert Vipers), and Jason Roy (Sharjah Warriorz) will also be making their tournament debuts the following year.
The tournament will feature 34 matches in total, with the Dubai International Stadium hosting the final. The Dubai International Stadium will host fifteen games, the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi will host eleven, and Sharjah will host eight. On weekdays, the evening games will start at 6.30 p.m., and on weekends, at 6 p.m. The afternoon games on doubleheader weekends will start at 2:00 p.m.
ILT20 CEO David White acknowledged that the “added complications” of the Champions Trophy made January–February 2025 a busy time. He had stated that the ILT20 will consider every possibility, including rescheduling the window for October or November. But in the end, the ILT20, which was granted List A status by the ICC. Before the 2024 season, made the decision to continue holding the tournament during the same timeframe as the previous two years.
In an attempt to avoid an increasingly congested December-February window. The PCB had earlier this year announced a move to transfer the PSL to an April-May window. Which would conflict with the IPL.
