Babar Azam enters ILT20 auction in top $80,000 price bracket

Babar Azam has entered the player pool for the upcoming International League T20 auction, with the Pakistan Test captain placed in the highest base-price category of $80,000.

The fifth ILT20 auction is scheduled for October 1 at the ICC Academy Indoors, with more than 200 players from 23 countries registered.

Babar is joined in the top price bracket by fellow Pakistanis Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Tariq. A total of 17 Pakistani cricketers have registered for the auction. The list also includes Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Khushdil Shah, Hassan Nawaz and Maaz Sadaqat.

Shadab, Maaz, Hassan and Hunain Shah are among the Pakistan players placed in the second category, which carries a base price of $40,000. The third base price is set at $10,000.

The auction will feature several prominent international names, including Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Faf du Plessis, Alex Hales, Chris Woakes and Wanindu Hasaranga.

The next ILT20 season will run from November 22 to December 20 in the UAE.

Each franchise will be required to have between 18 and 23 players in its squad. At least 11 must come from ICC Full Member countries, including four from Afghanistan and one from Ireland.

Teams will also have to include at least four UAE players, along with one player each from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and another from an associate nation outside those two ILT20 partner countries.