Naveen slapped with ILT20 ban for breaching agreement with Sharjah Warriors

Afghanistan cricketer Naveen-ul-Haq has been banned by the UAE’s ILT20 for 20 months for breaching his player agreement with Sharjah Warriors.

Naveen “refused to sign the retention notice” for the second season of the tournament, to be played in January-February next year.

The UAE cricket board’s decision effectively bars Naveen from playing in the ILT20 in 2024 and 2025. However, he has signed with South Africa SA20 league team Durban’s Super Giants – owned by the group that owns IPL team Lucknow Super Giants.

SA20 will be played almost concurrently with the ILT20.

Warriors, who had signed Naveen on for the inaugural edition of the league in 2023, had “earlier this year sent him a retention notice on the same terms and conditions,” an ILT20 statement said.

“Sharjah Warriors approached the ILT20 to intervene in this dispute. The ILT20 first initiated a mediation process through an independent third-party mediator, however the mediation failed.”

The league’s disciplinary committee heard the points of view of both Warriors and Naveen and examined the evidence before them before communicating their verdict.

Naveen was one of the better performers for Warriors in the 2023 season, finishing as their joint-highest wicket-taker (11 wickets) along with Junaid Siddique, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Warriors, however, had a rough time of it, winning just three of their ten games to miss the playoffs.