DUBAI: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam, England stars Phil Salt, Tom Banton and Liam Livingstone, Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and South Africa’s Faf du Plessis are among the prominent names registered for the International League T20 (ILT20) Season 5 Player Auction.
The auction is scheduled to be held at the ICC Academy Indoors in Dubai on October 1, with 200 players from 23 countries entering the pool for the fifth edition of the UAE-based franchise tournament.
The player list features representatives from 11 ICC Full Member nations, along with players from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. India’s Murugan Ashwin is the only Indian player in the auction pool, as currently active Indian cricketers are not permitted to participate in overseas franchise leagues.
ILT20 Season 5 will be played in the UAE from November 22 to December 20.
17 Pakistan players in auction pool
Pakistan has the largest contingent among the prominent overseas groups, with 17 players registered for the auction.
Besides Babar Azam, the Pakistani contingent includes Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Usman Tariq, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Hassan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah, Maaz Sadaqat and Sahibzada Farhan, among others.
Several of the leading names have been placed in the highest base-price category.
Star names in top base-price bracket
Players have been divided into three base-price categories of USD 80,000, USD 40,000 and USD 10,000.
The highest bracket includes Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Tom Banton, David Willey, Fakhar Zaman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Usman Tariq, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Alzarri Joseph, Wanindu Hasaranga, Faf du Plessis, Taskin Ahmed, Alex Hales, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Chris Woakes and Dasun Shanaka.
Other notable players in the auction pool include Jayden Seales, Ibrahim Zadran, Shadab Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi, Avishka Fernando, Hassan Nawaz, Shoriful Islam, Maaz Sadaqat, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib, Chris Green, Andre Fletcher and Hunain Shah.
MI Emirates enter auction with biggest purse
Each ILT20 franchise will have a starting auction purse of USD 1.3 million, in addition to any unused amount from the USD 700,000 allocation available for pre-auction signings.
MI Emirates will enter the auction with the largest purse at USD 1.39 million, followed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with USD 1.365 million.
Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants will have USD 1.305 million each, while Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz will enter with USD 1.3 million after using their entire USD 700,000 pre-auction signing allocation.
Teams get one RTM option
Each franchise will also be allowed to use one Right to Match (RTM) option on a UAE player who either represented the franchise during Season 4 or played for the same team in the recently concluded ILT20 Development Tournament.
The RTM provision could play an important role in helping franchises retain UAE-based players while strengthening their squads for the new season.
ILT20 squad composition rules
Under the tournament’s squad regulations, every franchise must have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players.
Each squad must include at least:
11 players from ICC Full Member countries
Four players from Afghanistan within the Full Member quota
One player from Ireland
Four UAE players
One player from Kuwait
One player from Saudi Arabia
One additional player from an ICC Associate country, excluding UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
With a strong international player pool and several high-profile names available, the October 1 auction is expected to be a key event ahead of the ILT20 Season 5, which begins on November 22.
