ILT20 Auction: Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Wanindu Hasaranga among T20 stars set for Season 5 auction
toi
newspoint|01-10-2026
Babar Azam , Phil Salt , Wanindu Hasaranga , Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Liam Livingstone, Faf du Plessis and Alzarri Joseph are among the leading names in the player pool for the DP World ILT20 Season 5 auction , which will be held in Dubai on October 1.
More than 200 players from 23 countries have been shortlisted for the auction, which will take place at the ICC Academy Indoors from 1pm GST (2:30pm IST). The six franchises will use the auction to complete their squads ahead of the 34-match season, which runs from November 21 to December 20.
The player pool includes representatives from 11 ICC Full Member nations, along with cricketers from ILT20 partners Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and 10 other Associate Member nations.
Players have been divided into three base-price categories of $80,000, $40,000 and $10,000.
The highest bracket features several established T20 names, including Babar, Salt, Banton, Gurbaz, Hasaranga, Livingstone, du Plessis, Joseph, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Naseem Shah, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Chris Woakes.
Several players in the top bracket featured in Season 4, with Salt having represented Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Banton turning out for MI Emirates and Gurbaz playing for Gulf Giants. Bairstow, Moeen and Hales were also part of the previous season.
The $40,000 bracket includes Shadab Khan, Ibrahim Zadran, Jayden Seales, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib and Andre Fletcher, while the $10,000 pool features players such as Will Smeed, Reeza Hendricks, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ish Sodhi, George Munsey and Matt Potts.
UAE players could attract strong interest
The auction will also be significant for UAE cricket , with all UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players entering at a base price of $10,000.
Under the Season 5 recruitment rules, none of the players from those three countries could be retained by their previous franchises. That leaves several established UAE internationals, including Muhammad Waseem, Junaid Siddique, Haider Ali, Ayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu and Khuzaima Tanveer, available for selection.
Each franchise will also have one Right to Match option, which can be used on a UAE player who represented the team in Season 4 or featured for the franchise in the recently concluded ILT20 Development Tournament.
The playing XI regulations will further increase the importance of the local player pool. Every team must field at least two UAE players, two Afghanistan players and one additional Associate Member player in every match.
MI Emirates have biggest purse
MI Emirates will enter the auction with the biggest purse at $1.39 million, followed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with $1.365 million. Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants have $1.305 million each, while Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz have $1.3 million.
Each franchise is required to finish with between 18 and 23 players. Squads must include at least 11 players from ICC Full Member countries, four UAE players, one Kuwait player, one Saudi Arabia player and at least one additional Associate Member player.
Teams must spend at least $1.5 million and can spend a maximum of $2 million. They will also be allowed one wildcard signing after the auction for a maximum fee of $250,000.
The franchises have already made their pre-auction signings, with Finn Allen, Jason Holder and Sunil Narine among those secured by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders; Marcus Stoinis and Mustafizur Rahman by Dubai Capitals; and David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen by Gulf Giants.
Defending champions Desert Vipers have retained Andries Gous and Dan Lawrence while adding Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Shimron Hetmyer. MI Emirates have kept Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan and Romario Shepherd and added Sherfane Rutherford.
Sharjah Warriorz have signed Adam Milne, James Vince and Waqar Salamkheil, while retaining Sikandar Raza.
The Season 5 auction will be streamed on the ILT20 YouTube channel, with viewers in India able to watch it on Zee5. The tournament will be staged at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Dubai International Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
More than 200 players from 23 countries have been shortlisted for the auction, which will take place at the ICC Academy Indoors from 1pm GST (2:30pm IST). The six franchises will use the auction to complete their squads ahead of the 34-match season, which runs from November 21 to December 20.
The player pool includes representatives from 11 ICC Full Member nations, along with cricketers from ILT20 partners Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and 10 other Associate Member nations.
Players have been divided into three base-price categories of $80,000, $40,000 and $10,000.
The highest bracket features several established T20 names, including Babar, Salt, Banton, Gurbaz, Hasaranga, Livingstone, du Plessis, Joseph, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Naseem Shah, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Chris Woakes.
Several players in the top bracket featured in Season 4, with Salt having represented Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Banton turning out for MI Emirates and Gurbaz playing for Gulf Giants. Bairstow, Moeen and Hales were also part of the previous season.
The $40,000 bracket includes Shadab Khan, Ibrahim Zadran, Jayden Seales, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib and Andre Fletcher, while the $10,000 pool features players such as Will Smeed, Reeza Hendricks, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ish Sodhi, George Munsey and Matt Potts.
UAE players could attract strong interest
The auction will also be significant for UAE cricket , with all UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players entering at a base price of $10,000.
Under the Season 5 recruitment rules, none of the players from those three countries could be retained by their previous franchises. That leaves several established UAE internationals, including Muhammad Waseem, Junaid Siddique, Haider Ali, Ayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu and Khuzaima Tanveer, available for selection.
Each franchise will also have one Right to Match option, which can be used on a UAE player who represented the team in Season 4 or featured for the franchise in the recently concluded ILT20 Development Tournament.
The playing XI regulations will further increase the importance of the local player pool. Every team must field at least two UAE players, two Afghanistan players and one additional Associate Member player in every match.
MI Emirates have biggest purse
MI Emirates will enter the auction with the biggest purse at $1.39 million, followed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with $1.365 million. Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants have $1.305 million each, while Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz have $1.3 million.
Each franchise is required to finish with between 18 and 23 players. Squads must include at least 11 players from ICC Full Member countries, four UAE players, one Kuwait player, one Saudi Arabia player and at least one additional Associate Member player.
Teams must spend at least $1.5 million and can spend a maximum of $2 million. They will also be allowed one wildcard signing after the auction for a maximum fee of $250,000.
The franchises have already made their pre-auction signings, with Finn Allen, Jason Holder and Sunil Narine among those secured by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders; Marcus Stoinis and Mustafizur Rahman by Dubai Capitals; and David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen by Gulf Giants.
Defending champions Desert Vipers have retained Andries Gous and Dan Lawrence while adding Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Shimron Hetmyer. MI Emirates have kept Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan and Romario Shepherd and added Sherfane Rutherford.
Sharjah Warriorz have signed Adam Milne, James Vince and Waqar Salamkheil, while retaining Sikandar Raza.
The Season 5 auction will be streamed on the ILT20 YouTube channel, with viewers in India able to watch it on Zee5. The tournament will be staged at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Dubai International Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
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