Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
Cricket team in UAE's ILT20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) is a professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the International League T20, a men's Twenty20 league hosted by the Emirates Cricket Board.[1] The franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, a sporting subsidiary alliance between the Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group.[2] Their home ground is the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
| ||
| Nickname | Knights | |
|---|---|---|
| League | International League T20 | |
| Personnel | ||
| Captain | Jason Holder | |
| Coach | Dwayne Bravo | |
| Owner | Knight Riders Group | |
| Chief executive | Venky Mysore | |
| Manager | Wayne Bentley | |
| Team information | ||
| City | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Colours | Purple and gold | |
| Founded | 2023 | |
| Home ground | Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi | |
| Capacity | 20,000 | |
| Official website | www | |
| ||
| Knight Riders Group | |
|---|---|
| Current Teams | |
| Kolkata Knight Riders (2008–present) 3 (2012, 2014, 2024) Trinbago Knight Riders (2015–present) 5 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2025) Trinbago Knight Riders Women (2022–present) 1 (2022) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (2023–present) Los Angeles Knight Riders (2023–present) | |
| Stadium | |
| Knight Riders Cricket Ground (2026–present) | |
| Defunct Teams | |
| Cape Town Knight Riders (2017) |
History
In August 2022, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) announced the establishment of the International League T20, a Twenty20 cricket competition to be started in 2023. The teams for the competition, representing 6 different cities of United Arab Emirates, including Abu Dhabi, were put up on auction in UAE in September 2022. The Abu Dhabi franchise was purchased & revealed by Kolkata Knight Riders, part of Knight Riders Franchise. The team unveiled their logo and jersey in January 2023, through their social media handles.
Home ground
The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi (with the two ends of the crease called the North End and the Pavilion End) serves as the home ground of the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. It is operated by the Emirates Cricket Board and is the third-oldest cricket stadium in the country. It is also the second-largest stadium in the UAE in terms of crowd capacity, with over 20,000 seats. In 2021, The stadium hosted some matches of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup as the tournament was shifted to UAE after the original hosts India were unable to host the tournament due to the outbreak of second-wave of COVID-19 in the whole country. The stadium also served as the home ground for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2020 and 2021 editions respectively.
Captains
| Player | Tenure | Matches | Won | Lost | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Narine | 2023 - 2025 | 32 | 9 | 22 | 1 |
| Andre Russell | 2024 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| Jason Holder | 2025 - 2026 | 10 | 4 | 6 | - |
Statistics
Season summary
Overall results
Against Teams
| Team | Span | Played | Won | Lost | NR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf Giants | 2023 - present | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Dubai Capitals | 10 | 2 | 8 | N/a | |
| Desert Vipers | 8 | 3 | 5 | ||
| MI Emirates | 9 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Sharjah Warriors | 8 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Last Updated: 4 January 2026 | |||||
Current squad
Administration and support staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| CEO/Managing Director | Venky Mysore |
| Team manager | Adrian Wayne Bentley |
| Head coach | Dwayne Bravo |
| Assistant coach | Ryan ten Doeschate |