UAE players availability uncertain ahead of ILT20 auction

This week, as the six franchises congregate in Dubai for the player auction on October 1, Cricinfo has learned that they remain concerned over UAE players' availability for the forthcoming season. The ILT20 announced the fifth season's window on April 13, but the ICC has not yet formally announced the World Cup Qualifier playoffs schedule, although it informally communicated with Associate countries during the summer to establish a December window for the multi-nation tournament.

It is understood that the Emirates Cricket Board approached the ICC to check whether the Qualifier playoffs could be moved to January, but was told the global cricket calendar was tightly packed.

ILT20 is yet to formally brief the franchises on the situation, including assuring them that despite the scheduling clash, some of the leading UAE players are likely to be part of the fifth season.

"It is possible that UAE may be in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in December, depending on other results before then," ILT20's interim chief operating officer Mike Fordham told Cricinfo. "If that is the case, then some UAE players will miss a portion of the DP World ILT20 season. Other players not selected would remain fully available in this circumstance, including many of the top performers from the UAE in the league in recent seasons."

In the auction shortlist shared with franchises on Monday, exactly half of the marquee set comprising 44 players are from the UAE. Part of the marquee set include Muhammad Waseem, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid Khan, Alishan Sharafu and Haider Ali, all of whom are not part of the WCL-2 series in Dallas.

Each of the six squads must include at least 18 players and at most 23 players. The squad must feature a minimum of 11 players from Full Member countries. At least four of those 11 players must be from Afghanistan, and at least one from Ireland. The squads must also include a minimum of four players from UAE, one from Kuwait, one from Saudi Arabia and at least one further player from Associate countries. They must also pick at least one Under-23 player in the auction.

The franchises will be allowed to pick replacement players and one wildcard player. However, Matheesha Pathirana, Michael Bracewell and Sonny Baker withdrew from the auction and will not be eligible to be picked either as a replacement or wildcard.

The Right-to-Match (RTM) option could be used for a UAE player who either played for the franchise last season or was part of the franchise's development squad in the ILT20 Development Tournament 2026. For UAE players who played for one franchise last season and represented a different franchise in the Development Tournament 2026, the RTM will rest with the franchise they represented in the Development Tournament 2026.