ILT20 Season 4 Player Auction (ILT20 Photo)
The International League T20 (ILT20) Season 5 Player Auction will be held on Thursday, October 1, in Dubai, with more than 200 players from 23 countries set to go under the hammer. The six franchises will enter the auction with purses ranging from $1.3 million to $1.39 million, while they must build squads of between 18 and 23 players. Here is everything you need to know about the ILT20 Season 5 auction: Q. When and where is the ILT20 Season 5 auction? The auction will be held on Thursday, October 1, 2026, at the ICC Academy Indoors in Dubai. More than 200 players from 23 countries have registered for the auction. The player pool includes cricketers from 11 ICC Full Member nations, as well as ILT20 partner nations Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and 10 other ICC Associate Member nations. Players have been placed in three base-price categories: $80,000 $40,000 $10,000 The $80,000 bracket features several established T20 names, including Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Tom Banton, David Willey, Fakhar Zaman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Alzarri Joseph, Wanindu Hasaranga, Faf du Plessis, Alex Hales, Naseem Shah, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Chris Woakes. The $40,000 category includes Jayden Seales, Ibrahim Zadran, Shadab Khan, Tabraiz Shamsi, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib, Chris Green and Andre Fletcher. The $10,000 bracket features players such as Will Smeed, Lorcan Tucker, Reeza Hendricks, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ish Sodhi, George Munsey, Matt Potts, Bas de Leede and Tanzim Hasan Sakib. How the $10,000 category could be decisive in shaping the squads? All players from UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will enter the auction at a base price of $10,000. ILT20 Season 4 Player Auction (ILT20 Photo)
Because franchises have significant roster requirements to fulfil, the lowest base-price category could play an important role in squad building, particularly. The auction pool features some of the biggest names in T20 cricket, including Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Tom Banton, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Alzarri Joseph, Faf du Plessis and Liam Livingstone. Q. How many players are in the auction? Q. What are the player price categories? Q.
Franchises will also have the option of using one Right to Match (RTM) on a UAE player who either represented them in Season 4 or played for them in the recently concluded ILT20 Development Tournament. Each team receives a base auction purse of $1.3 million, with any remaining money from the $700,000 allocated for pre-auction signings added to that purse. The available purses are: MI Emirates: $1.39m Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: $1.365m Desert Vipers: $1.305m Gulf Giants: $1.305m Dubai Capitals: $1.30m Sharjah Warriorz: $1.30m Q. Every franchise must finish the auction with a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players. Each squad must contain: At least 11 players from ICC Full Member countries At least four Afghanistan players At least one Ireland player At least four UAE players At least one Kuwait player At least one Saudi Arabia player At least one additional ICC Associate player, excluding UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia UAE players have entered the ILT20 Auction at a base price of $10,000. Each team must spend at least $1.5 million and no more than $2 million on its squad. After the auction, franchises can sign one Wildcard player for an additional maximum fee of $250,000. Every playing XI in Season 5 must include: At least two UAE players At least two Afghanistan players At least one additional Associate Member player The additional Associate slot can be filled by a third UAE player or a player from another Associate nation, including Kuwait or Saudi Arabia. All replacement players must have registered for the Season 5 auction. Any player who withdraws from the auction on or before October 1 will not be eligible to participate in Season 5 either as a replacement player or as a Wildcard signing. Abu Dhabi Knight Riders: $1.365m Current squad: Finn Allen, Jason Holder, Matthew Tromp, Sunil Narine. Desert Vipers: $1.305m Current squad: Andries Gous, Dan Lawrence, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Shimron Hetmyer. Dubai Capitals: $1.30m Current squad: Marcus Stoinis, Mustafizur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Rovman Powell. Gulf Giants: $1.305m Current squad: Azmatullah Omarzai, Blessing Muzarabani, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen. MI Emirates: $1.39m Current squad: Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, Romario Shepherd, Sherfane Rutherford. Sharjah Warriorz: $1.30m Current squad: Adam Milne, James Vince, Waqar Salamkheil, Sikandar Raza. The Season 5 Player Auction will be streamed live on the official ILT20 YouTube channel. When will ILT20 Season 5 be played? The fifth season of the ILT20 will run from November 21 to December 20, 2026. The tournament will be played across three venues: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Dubai International Stadium Sharjah Cricket Stadium Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news , check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule .
That means several established Gulf-region players will return to the auction pool, including UAE internationals Muhammad Waseem, Junaid Siddique, Haider Ali, Ayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu and Khuzaima Tanveer. Q. How much money does each franchise have to spend? What are the squad-size requirements? Q. How much must franchises spend? Q. What are the playing XI requirements? Q. What happens if a player withdraws from the auction? Info of ILT20 auction ahead of fifth season. Q. What are the six franchises taking into the auction? They still need to acquire four UAE players, eight Full Member players, one Kuwait player and one Saudi Arabia player. They still need four UAE players, seven Full Member players, one Associate player, one Kuwait player and one Saudi Arabia player. Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines They still need four UAE players, seven Full Member players, one Associate player, one Kuwait player and one Saudi Arabia player. Q. Where to live stream the auction? In India, the live stream will also be available on Zee5. Q. Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players could not be retained by franchises under the Season 5 recruitment rules. Q. Why are UAE players expected to attract attention?