CEO Phil Oliver on drafting Aryan Lakra and Karthik Meiyappan

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It’s a special episode as we discuss the news that the Vipers have filled the last two slots for UAE players in their roster by picking up spin-bowling all-rounder Aryan Lakra and leg-spinner Karthik Meiyappan in the draft that took place on the morning of Friday October the 20th.

The pair join forces with the two UAE players that the Vipers retained from season one – off-spinning all-rounder Rohan Mustafa and seam-bowling all-rounder Ali Naseer – to complete the four spaces allocated to local talent in the squad list.

Karthik is only 23 years old but made headlines around the world last year when he became the first UAE player to take a hat-trick in T20 International cricket, doing so on the biggest stage of all, against Sri Lanka in the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. And 21 year-old Aryan Lakra, who was also part of the UAE squad for that tournament, has already had captaincy experience, leading his country in the ICC U19 CWC in South Africa just prior to the COVID outbreak in 2020.

So the Vipers have signed two young players very much on the up and in this podcast we hear from Phil Oliver, the Desert Vipers CEO, who attended the draft, to get his thoughts on the signings…

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