Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah Among Top Names in ILT20 Season 5 Auction

Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah Among Top Names in ILT20 Season 5 Auction

DUBAI, September 29, 2026: Pakistan stars Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah and other leading international T20 players headline the player auction list for Season 5 of the DP World International League T20 (ILT20), with the auction set to take place at the ICC Academy Indoors in Dubai on Thursday, October 1.

The auction features more than 200 players from 23 countries, including cricketers from 11 ICC Full Member nations, as well as players from ILT20 partners Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and 10 other Associate Member nations.

The players have been placed in three base-price categories of USD 80,000, USD 40,000 and USD 10,000.

The top USD 80,000 category includes some of the biggest names in world T20 cricket, including Pakistan’s Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Tariq, Naseem Shah and Sahibzada Farhan, alongside England’s Phil Salt, Tom Banton, David Willey, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes and Alex Hales.

The category also features Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka, West Indies’ Alzarri Joseph and Faf du Plessis of South Africa, while Bangladesh’s Taskin Ahmed is also among the prominent names.

The USD 40,000 category features an impressive mix of emerging talent and experienced T20 performers, including Shadab Khan of Pakistan, Jayden Seales, Ibrahim Zadran, Tabraiz Shamsi, Avishka Fernando, Hassan Nawaz, Shoriful Islam, Maaz Sadaqat, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib, Chris Green, Andre Fletcher and Hunain Shah.

The USD 10,000 category includes players such as Will Smeed, Lorcan Tucker, Asa Tribe, Shayan Jahangir, Reeza Hendricks, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Ish Sodhi, George Munsey, Matt Potts, Bas de Leede and Tanzim Hasan Sakib.

All players from the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will enter the auction at the USD 10,000 base price. Under the Season 5 Player Recruitment Rules, none of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait players could be retained by franchises, setting the stage for strong competition for Gulf-based talent.

Among the UAE players available at the auction are Muhammad Waseem, Junaid Siddique, Haider Ali, Ayan Afzal Khan, Alishan Sharafu and Khuzaima Tanveer.

Each franchise is permitted to use one Right to Match (RTM) option on a UAE player who represented the franchise in Season 4 or played for the team in the recently concluded DP World ILT20 Development Tournament.

MI Emirates Have Biggest Auction Purse

Each franchise will enter the auction with a purse of USD 1.3 million, plus any remaining amount from the USD 700,000 allocated for pre-auction signings.

MI Emirates have the largest available purse at USD 1.39 million, followed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders with USD 1.365 million. Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants have USD 1.305 million each, while Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz will enter the auction with USD 1.3 million each after fully utilising their pre-auction signing allocation.

At the conclusion of the auction, each 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, including at least four players from Afghanistan and at least one from Ireland. Franchises must also have a minimum of four UAE players, one player each from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and at least one additional player from an ICC Associate Member nation.

Teams must spend a minimum of USD 1.5 million and a maximum of USD 2 million, with the option of signing one Wildcard player after the auction for a maximum additional fee of USD 250,000.

For every match, the playing XI must include at least two UAE players, two Afghanistan players and one additional Associate Member player. The Associate slot can be filled by a third UAE player or a cricketer from another Associate Member nation, including Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Season 5 Tournament Schedule

The DP World ILT20 Season 5 will be played from November 21 to December 20, 2026, with matches scheduled at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Dubai International Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

The tournament fixtures will be announced soon.