A star-studded field featuring Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Tom Banton, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Alzarri Joseph, Faf du Plessis, and Liam Livingstone is confirmed for the International League T20 (ILT20) season five player auction. The event is scheduled to take place on October 1 at the ICC Academy Indoors in Dubai. The tournament is slated to run in the UAE from November 22 to December 20. Babar Azam, Phil Salt, Tom Banton, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Wanindu Hasaranga, Alzarri Joseph, Faf du Plessis and Liam Livingstone are among players who have entered the International League T20 Season 5 Player Auction.
The auction pool consists of over 400 athletes representing 23 nations, including representatives from 11 Full Member countries, as well as players from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Murugan Ashwin stands out as the sole Indian representative, as current Indian players are prohibited from joining overseas leagues. Among the 17 players from Pakistan seeking spots are Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Usman Tariq, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Hassan Nawaz, Muhammad Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah, Maaz Sadaqat, and Sahibzada Farhan. Including from 11 Full Member countries besides from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, in the auction, there are 200 players hailing from 23 countries.
Players have been divided into three base price categories: USD 80,000, USD 40,000, and USD 10,000. The highest tier features notable names such as Babar Azam, Salt, Banton, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Alzarri Joseph, Taskin Ahmed, Alex Hales, Chris Woakes, and Dasun Shanaka. Additional entries include talents like Jayden Seales, Ibrahim Zadran, Tabraiz Shamsi, Avishka Fernando, Shoriful Islam, Kusal Perera, Gulbadin Naib, Chris Green, Andre Fletcher, and Hunain Shah.
Franchise budgets vary, with MI Emirates entering the auction with the largest purse of USD 1,390,000, followed by the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders at USD 1,365,000. The Desert Vipers and Gulf Giants each hold USD 1,305,000. Meanwhile, the Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz arrive with USD 1,300,000 each after exhausting their initial USD 700,000 pre-auction signing allocation. Each franchise will enter the auction with a purse of USD 1.3 million plus any remaining amount from the USD 700,000 allocated earlier for Pre-Auction Signings.
Teams are required to build rosters consisting of 18 to 23 players. These squads must include at least 11 players from Full Member nations—incorporating at least four from Afghanistan and one from Ireland—as well as four UAE players, one from Kuwait, one from Saudi Arabia, and one additional player from other ICC Associate nations. Franchises are also granted one Right to Match (RTM) option for a UAE player who featured for them in season four or the recent ILT20 Development Tournament. Teams are permitted to use one Right to Match option (RTM) on a UAE player that either played for them in Season 4 or played for their team in the recently concluded ILT20 Development Tournament.
