ILT20 2026/27 player auction begins in Dubai on Thursday
Babar Azam is among over 400 players registered for the ILT20 2026/27 auction in Dubai.
The International League T20 player auction for the 2026/27 season will be held on Thursday at the ICC Academy Indoors in Dubai. Over 400 players from 23 countries are registered for the auction, which begins at 1:00 PM local time. Teams will enter the auction with purses ranging from USD 1.3 million to USD 1.39 million.
Babar Azam registered for the tournament for the first time and is placed in the top USD 80,000 base-price bracket. Other headline players include Phil Salt, Faf du Plessis, Alzarri Joseph and Liam Livingstone. Each franchise must field a squad of between 18 and 23 players, including at least four from Afghanistan and one from Ireland.
MI Emirates enter the auction with the largest purse at USD 1.39 million, while Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz have the smallest at USD 1.3 million each. The season will run from November 21 to December 20, 2026.
CricHubb Take
The removal of the overseas draft and the open-market signings system will favour teams with deeper scouting networks and quicker decision-making rather than those relying on draft-day luck.