After the inaugural ILT20 players’ auction held on October 1, 2025, all six franchises have finalized their squads for the fourth season with a mix of international stars, emerging UAE talent, and promising associate nation players.
IPL Auction Season 4 Retentions & Surprises
Retentions such as Andre Russell, Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Johnson Charles, Tim Southee (Sharjah Warriorz) and Dasun Shanaka (Dubai Capitals) ensured experienced campaigners remained with their franchises.
The biggest surprise was the unsold status of Ravichandran Ashwin despite being the highest base price player.
The auction budget was tightly managed, with franchises focusing on squad balance, regional talent inclusion and versatile T20 specialists.
The forthcoming season of ILT20 will start on December 2, 2025, and conclude on January 4, 2026.
Squads of all six teams after the inaugural ILT20 auction
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
Michael Pepper, George Garton, Brandon McMullen, Ibrar Ahmad, Ajay Kumar, Adnan Idrees, Abdul Manan Ali, Mayank, Khary Pierre, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Unmukt Chand, Liam Livingstone, Alishan Sharafu, Alex Hales, Sherfane Rutherford, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Jason Holder, Piyush Chawla
Desert Vipers
Vriitya Aravind, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Qais Ahmed, Sanjay Pahal, Bilal Tahir, Faisal Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Tom Bruce, Matiullah Khan, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Lockie Ferguson, Dan Lawrence, David Payne, Khuzaima Bin Tanveer, Max Holden, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Andries Gous, Shimron Hetmyer
Dubai Capitals
Muhammad Farooq, Tymal Mills, Scott Currie, Mohammad Nabi, Farhan Khan, Anudeep Chenthamara, Usman Najeeb, Ritesh Grandhi, Shayan Jahangir, Rushil Ugarkar, Naveen Bidaisee, Toby Albert, Akshay Wakhare, Jordan Matthew Cox, Rovman Powell, Gulbadin Naib, Sediqullah Atal, Waqar Salamkheil, Haider Ali, Muhammad Jawadullah, Jimmy Neesham, David Willey, Leus de Plooy
Gulf Giants
Asif Khan, Zuhaib Zubair, Sean Dickson, Tabraiz Shamsi, Liam Dawson, Fred Klaassen, Haider Razzaq, Meet Bhavsar, Ishtiaq Ahmad, Lorcan Tucker, Chris Wood, Tom Moores, Ramon Simmonds, James Vince, Aayan Afzal Khan, Blessing Muzarabani, Gerhard Erasmus, Mark Adair, Azmatullah Omarzai, Moeen Ali, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Kyle Mayers, Matthew Forde
MI Emirates
Muhammad Rohid, Jordan Thompson, Naveen-Ul-Haq, Andre Fletcher, Nosthush Kenjige, Mohamed Shafeeq, Zain Ul Abidin, Usman Khan, Ackeem Auguste, Arab Gul, Tajinder Dhillon, Zahoor Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kamindu Mendis, Romario Shepherd, Tom Banton, Muhammad Waseem, Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow
Sharjah Warriorz
Junaid Siddique, James Rew, Nathan Sowter, Dwaine Pretorius, Jayden Seales, Harmeet Singh, Wasim Akram, Mohammed Aslam, Raees Ahmad, Richard Ngarava, Ethan D’Souza, Taskin Ahmed, Shubham Ranjane, Abdul Salam Khan, Tim Southee, Dinesh Karthik, Johnson Charles, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saurabh Netravalkar, Sikandar Raza, Tim David, Tom Abell, Adil Rashid
