The 44-year-old record-breaking wicketkeeper is captain of Sagittarius Strikers, a squad that features household names such as Mahela Jayawardene, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond and former UAE captain Khurram Khan.

The Strikers are currently third in the league behind Brian Lara’s Leo Lions and Virender Sehwag’s unbeaten Gemini Arabians.

“It’s very exciting to have the opportunity to come along with mates you’ve played with and against over the years,” Gilchrist told Sport360.

“Probably a thing that’s caught my attention the most is the standard of cricket, it’s been amazingly high.

“I think a lot of people thought it was going to be a bunch of retired fat blokes running around, not being able to showcase their skills anymore, but I reckon the intensity of the cricket has been really pleasing,” he said.

Within the Strikers team, one of the players Gilchrist has been most looking forward to catching up with is Vettori.

The New Zealand legend enjoyed a decorated career and is just the eighth player in Test history to take over 300 wickets and score 3,000 runs.

“Daniel is someone we used to lock horns with on the field in a respective way and he’s such a brilliant bowler. Were teammates now and just getting to know him better is nice,” he said.