ILT20 2026 Auction Bargains: The Best Value Buys After the $380k Record
Fazalhaq Farooqi’s USD 380,000 move to MI Emirates grabbed every headline at the ILT20 Season 5 auction in Dubai on 1 October 2026 (CricTracker, via Yardbarker). But the smartest business happened at the other end of the price list. While four players crossed the old USD 260,000 record, Desert Vipers walked away with Babar Azam, the former Pakistan captain and one of the most prolific T20 batters in the world, for just USD 80,000, his base price. These are the seven best value buys of the auction.
For the other end of the scale, see our top 10 most expensive ILT20 players ranking, led by Farooqi’s record fee, Liam Livingstone’s USD 350,000 move to Gulf Giants and Faf du Plessis at USD 300,000 (Asianet Newsable).
1. Babar Azam, USD 80,000, Desert Vipers
The headline bargain of the auction. Babar went in Round 3 at his USD 80,000 base price with no bidding war at all (cricketdaily.net). For context, this is a batter who finished as the highest run-scorer of PSL 11 with 588 runs including two centuries while leading Peshawar Zalmi to the title in May (Free Press Journal), and who sits among the highest run-scorers in men’s T20 international history.
The Vipers did not stop there. Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan all joined for USD 80,000 each (iplt20, via ipl.com). Four Pakistan internationals for a combined USD 320,000, which is less than Farooqi cost on his own. Shadab entered at a USD 40,000 base and still went for USD 80,000, which tells you how little competition there was for this group.
In November 2025 Babar passed Rohit Sharma to become the leading run-scorer in men’s T20 internationals, with 4,234 runs at 39.57 (Sportstar). At the Vipers he anchors the top order for the defending champions. For scale: Farooqi’s record fee is nearly five times what the Vipers paid for the highest run-scorer in T20I history.
2. Adil Rashid, USD 80,000, Sharjah Warriorz
England’s frontline leg-spinner and a two-time World Cup winner, signed at base price (Asianet Newsable, via ANI). Rashid is one of the most successful wrist-spinners in T20 international history, the exact profile franchises usually pay six figures for. Sharjah getting him for USD 80,000, in the same auction where they paid USD 180,000 for Richard Gleeson, is remarkable squad building.
In October 2025 he took 4 for 32 against New Zealand, his fourth T20I four-wicket haul, reaching 145 T20I wickets at 23.93 (ESPNcricinfo, via newsbytesapp). At Sharjah he leads the spin attack through the middle overs.
3. Moeen Ali, USD 80,000, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
Another England World Cup winner at base price. Moeen’s off-spin, left-handed power hitting and leadership went to the Knight Riders for USD 80,000 (iplt20, via ipl.com; cricketdaily.net). He was listed as one of the headline buys of the Knight Riders’ USD 1.549 million spend, and at that price he might be the most complete cricketer per dollar in the entire auction.
The numbers are enormous: approaching 450 T20 games with 7,792 runs and 271 wickets (Yorkshire CCC). He knows this league too, scoring 251 runs in 9 games last season (cricketaddictor). At the Knight Riders he offers a top-six batting slot plus four overs of off-spin, from a man who captained England 13 times in T20 cricket. All-rounders who do both jobs usually start at six figures. Moeen went at base price.
4. Jonny Bairstow, USD 80,000, MI Emirates
MI Emirates spent the full USD 2 million purse, the most of any team (cricketdaily.net), yet still found room for a bargain. Bairstow, England’s wicketkeeper-batter, went at his USD 80,000 base price (cricketwinner.com). He joins a squad headlined by the USD 380,000 record signing: the most expensive player in league history and a proven international keeper in the same XI, one costing nearly five times the other.
His 2025 form is strong: 384 runs at a strike rate above 140 captaining Yorkshire in the T20 Blast (cricket.com.au), with nearly 7,000 T20 runs at 30.22 across 285 games (thecricketpaper). Mumbai Indians paid INR 5.25 crore for him as an IPL 2025 injury replacement (newspointapp); MI Emirates got him for USD 80,000. He should open alongside Muhammad Waseem and keep wicket.
5. Tabraiz Shamsi, USD 40,000, Gulf Giants
A former ICC No.1-ranked T20I bowler for USD 40,000 (cricketwinner.com). The Giants committed USD 350,000 to Livingstone and USD 310,000 to Rahmanullah Gurbaz, so they needed exactly this kind of low-cost quality to balance the books. At one-ninth of Livingstone’s fee, this is the best pure bowling value of the auction.
The record backs it: 351 wickets in 310 T20 matches at 22.51, with 89 T20I wickets at 20.89 and an economy of 7.39 (newsbytesapp). He played the 2024 T20 World Cup final. MI Cape Town paid about USD 29,000 for him at the SA20 auction (newsbytesapp), so USD 40,000 is fair value; the bargain is landing a World Cup finalist wrist-spinner in the middle bracket at all.
6. Andre Fletcher, USD 40,000, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
The story of the auction in one price drop. Fletcher set the Season 4 auction record at USD 260,000 with MI Emirates (CricTracker, via Yardbarker). Twelve months later, the Knight Riders bought the West Indian opener for USD 40,000 (iplt20, via ipl.com; cricketdaily.net), roughly one-seventh of his previous fee. Form and age curves are real in T20 auctions, and ADKR just profited from one.
In CPL 2025 he scored 310 runs in 10 innings at 31.00 (SR 129.17), then 337 runs in MLC 2026 at 136.99 (cricstats.in). His T20 league career reads 6,132 runs at 29.62, and he knows UAE conditions from 12 previous ILT20 games. At 38 the ceiling is lower than his record-fee year, but at USD 40,000 the downside is tiny.
7. Harry Tector, USD 12,000, Desert Vipers
Ireland’s standout batter for barely above the USD 10,000 minimum (cricketwinner.com). Tector is the anchor of Ireland’s batting across formats, and the defending champions picked him up for less than a sixth of Babar’s already cheap fee. It sums up the Vipers’ auction: Babar Azam at USD 80,000, Harry Tector at USD 12,000, Nangyalai Kharote at USD 28,000.
In November 2025 he carried his bat for 69 not out against Bangladesh, his highest T20I score and seventh fifty, reaching 1,601 T20I runs at 24.63 (ESPNcricinfo, via newsbytesapp). Two months earlier came an unbeaten 61 off 36 against England. At the Vipers he slots in behind Babar as the second anchor. USD 12,000 for an international top-four batter in this form is arguably the best per-dollar buy of the auction.
Honourable mentions
Tom Banton went to Sharjah Warriorz at his USD 80,000 base price (Asianet Newsable, via ANI), Shamar Joseph’s raw pace cost Gulf Giants USD 80,000 (cricketwinner.com), Kusal Perera joined MI Emirates for USD 40,000 (cricketwinner.com), and George Linde went to Sharjah Warriorz for USD 40,000 (Asianet Newsable, via ANI). At the bottom of the market, Sharjah picked up James Rew, George Dockrell and Junaid Siddique at USD 10,000 each (Asianet Newsable, via ANI).
Which team won the auction on value?
On pure dollars per quality, Desert Vipers. USD 332,000 bought Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan and Harry Tector: five internationals, including the highest T20I run-scorer in history, for less than Farooqi alone cost.
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders take second: USD 1.549 million spent (iplt20, via ipl.com), Moeen at base price and Fletcher at roughly one-seventh of his previous fee, with no panic buys.
MI Emirates spent the full USD 2 million purse (cricketdaily.net). They got the record signing and a genuine Bairstow bargain, but when you spend everything, value gets judged on trophies, not receipts.
Frequently asked questions
Who was the biggest bargain of the ILT20 2026 auction?
Babar Azam at USD 80,000. A former Pakistan captain and one of the great T20 batters of his generation went at base price in Round 3 with no bidding war (cricketdaily.net). Nothing else in the auction combined that level of player with that level of discount.
How did the auction price brackets work?
Players were grouped into three base-price slabs of USD 80,000, USD 40,000 and USD 10,000, with all UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia players set at USD 10,000 (Wisden). Most of the bargains on this list came from the middle two slabs.
Which team got the best value overall?
Desert Vipers, and it is not close. Four Pakistan internationals at USD 80,000 each, Harry Tector at USD 12,000, and the squad was already the defending champion. They spent the least on headline names and arguably improved the most.
