NAMIBIAN pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann has made a major breakthrough by getting signed up for the UAE International T20 League which kicks off in January next year.
Trumpelmann was signed up by the Desert Vipers, which is owned by the Manchester United owners, the Glazer family, and will compete against five other teams in the inaugural UAE tournament.
The Desert Vipers last week announced their squad which includes several big-name international players like Sam Billings, Alex Hales and Tom Curran of England, Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka, Colin Munro of New Zealand, Sheldon Cottrell of the West Indies, Azam Khan of Pakistan and Sandeep Lamichhane of Nepal.
According to cricinfo, the UAE International League T20 is set to offer top players US$450 000 per season, making it one of the most lucrative T20 leagues in the world.
According to the league’s wage slots, players are divided into 18 different wage categories from US$340 000 for the top group down to US$10 000 for the bottom group.
A player picked for the highest wage slot of US$340 000 can get a maximum of a further US$110 000 as a loyalty bonus.
The league, which includes six franchises with 18-man squads, will be played in January and February next year with an overall salary cap of potentially US$2,5 million per team.
Each team will play the other twice in a league stage, followed by four play-off matches for a total of 34 matches.
The competing teams are the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Dubai Capitals, Gulf Giants, MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriors, while three of the six franchises have owners with teams in the Indian Premier League – the Mumbai Indians, Kolkota Night Riders and the Delhi Capitals.
Trumpelmann made international headlines at last year’s T20 World Cup when he took three wickets in four balls against Scotland to lead Namibia to a four-wicket victory, and he told The Namibian Sport that that performance was special.
“The Scotland performance was a special performance for me – it doesn’t come around too often and it’s something you need to look back at with fond memories and remember what got you there,” he said.
“There were a lot of sacrifices and hard work behind the scenes, working with the coaching staff, and my team mates to have one special performance on the big stage. I really hope that another Namibian player can get the opportunity to put their name out there at this year’s T20 World Cup and maybe promote their career in that way,” he added.
Trumpelmann now becomes the third Namibian cricketer to play for an international T20 franchise, following in the footsteps of JJ Smit, who played for the Vancouver Knights in the Global T20 Canada League, and David Wiese, who plays for the Pakistan Super League champions, the Lahore Qalandars.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to play for the Desert Vipers, and I hope it will open some doors for a few more Namibian players to join JJ, David and myself,” Trumpelmann said.