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ILT20 Auction 2023: Key Details and Player Pool

The ILT20 auction is heading back to Dubai, and this time the stakes feel bigger than ever.

Season 5’s player auction will take place on October 1 at the ICC Academy’s indoor facility, with organisers confirming the date after early confusion around the schedule. The six franchises now know exactly when their chequebooks go on trial.

More than 800 players from 20 countries have put their names forward. That huge list will be cut down to around 200 before the hammer starts to fall, leaving a tight, competitive pool for teams to fight over.

Big purse, tight framework

Each franchise walks into the room with a fresh auction purse of USD 1,300,000, on top of whatever remains from the USD 700,000 they were allowed to use on direct signings and retentions before the auction.

By the time the final lot is called, every team must have spent at least USD 1.5 million and no more than USD 2 million. That cap excludes any Wildcard player, who can be added after the auction and offers one last roll of the dice for owners looking to plug a gap or make a statement.

Squad size is equally controlled. Each franchise must build a group of at least 18 and no more than 23 players. Inside that, the composition rules are strict and revealing.

There must be:

  • A minimum of 11 players from ICC Full Member countries
    • At least four of those must be from Afghanistan
    • At least one must be from Ireland
  • At least four players from the UAE
  • At least one player from Kuwait
  • At least one player from Saudi Arabia
  • At least one additional player from ICC Associate countries (not including the UAE, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia)

The message is clear: this is not just another franchise league chasing star names. The structure forces teams to invest in the region and in Associate talent, while still leaning on Full Member quality to drive standards.

Price tags and player pool

The base price is deliberately accessible. Every player in the auction has a minimum base of USD 10,000, with some opting for higher brackets of USD 40,000 or USD 80,000.

Registrations were completed between July and September 12, locking in the player pool and giving analysts and scouts just enough time to build their boards and run their scenarios.

Rights to Match: four lifelines per team

The auction room drama will not just be about who bids highest. Each franchise carries four Rights to Match (RTM), powerful tools that allow them to bring back familiar faces if another team tries to swoop in.

They break down as follows:

  • One RTM for a Full Member player (including Afghanistan and Ireland) who played for that franchise in Season 4
  • One RTM for an Associate Member player who played for that franchise in Season 4
  • One RTM for a UAE player who either played for that franchise in Season 4 or was part of their Development Squad in the 2026 ILT20 Development Tournament
  • One RTM for a Kuwait or Saudi player who played for that franchise in Season 4

Used well, these rights can anchor a squad around proven performers and local favourites. Used poorly, they can burn through budget and flexibility in a heartbeat.

Replacements and late changes

No league escapes injuries, late NOCs or sudden international call-ups, and ILT20 has built in room to react.

If a player is injured, pulled away for international duty, or fails to secure an NOC, franchises can bring in a replacement at any point up to the end of the league phase of Season 5. Once the tournament support period begins, the ILT20 Technical Committee must sign off on any replacement, tightening control as the competition moves into its decisive stretch.

There is one crucial restriction: mandatory-category players – from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan or Ireland – must be replaced by someone who was part of the original auction registration pool. For players from other nations, replacements do not need to have registered for the auction at all.

It leaves teams juggling two parallel games: winning the auction on October 1, and then surviving the long, unpredictable road that follows.

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