ILT20 SEASON 5: Auction Date, Time, Rules, Purse, RTMs

MI Emirates fans, here are all the details you were waiting for. The ILT20 auctions will take place on 1^st October, 2026. The upcoming extravaganza will be an exciting one, as all six teams aim to build their squads for season 5. MI Emirates are pumped up, as we look forward to rebuilding our squad. New names, some familiar faces and a whole lot of Blue and Gold. We are all set to recreate the season 2 magic with proven match winners, and moreover another title insight.

Here is everything you need to know:

Date: 1^st October, 2026

Time: 2 pm GST| 3:30 pm IST

Location: ICC Academy indoors facility, Dubai

Purse Available: Each franchise will have a purse of USD 1,300,000 to spend at the auction plus whatever spend remains unutilised from the USD 700,000 that was available for direct signings and retentions. At the end of the auction, each franchise must have spent a minimum of $1.5m and a maximum of $2m, excluding a wildcard player that may be added after the auction.

Squad size: All franchises must have a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 23 players at the end of the auction. There must be a minimum of 11 players from ICC Full Member countries (at least four of which must be from Afghanistan and at least one of which must be from Ireland), a minimum of four players from the UAE, a minimum of one player from Kuwait, a minimum of one player from Saudi Arabia and at least one further player from ICC Associate countries (excluding the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia).

Players’ base prices: The minimum base price for all players is USD 10,000. Players may also have a base price of USD 40,000 or USD 80,000.

Right-To-Match (RTM) rules: All franchises will each have four Rights to Match to use during the auction: -

-    One for a Full member player that played for that particular franchise in Season 4 (including Afghanistan and Ireland).

-  One for an Associate Member player that played for that particular franchise in Season 4.

- One for a UAE player that played for that particular franchise in Season 4, or was part of their Development Squad in the 2026 ILT20 Development Tournament.

- One for a Kuwait or Saudi player that played for that particular franchise in Season 4.

-  All of these ‘Rights to Match’ are optional and not obligatory.

The countdown begins for a new squad to take shape. The pieces of the puzzle will all come together at the auction, but for MI Emirates…our biggest strength will be waiting in the stands.