As the Who’s Who of world cricket arrived for the ILT20 Player Auction in Dubai on Thursday, everyone was anxious to see which franchises would engage in a bidding war for Babar Azam.
Pakistan’s star batter made headlines by entering the auction for the UAE’s IPL-style T20 league recently.
But, contrary to expectations, there was no war over Babar as the 31-year-old was bought by Desert Vipers for his base price of $80,000.
It was an anti-climax to a day that started with legendary cricketers AB de Villiers, Allan Donald and Brett Lee making appearances as special guests alongside former Australian batter Usman Khawaja and ex-Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik.
Former Australian fast bowler Lee, who is also the brand ambassador of the ILT20, was all smiles as he helped Richard Madley, the auctioneer, draw the chits containing the names of the players from a box.
While Babar may not have launched a bidding war, his arrival is a great boost to the league.
The Pakistan batter, famous for his gorgeous cover drives, is expected to be the biggest crowd-puller this year.
Babar will be joined at defending champions Desert Vipers by his compatriots Naseem Shah and Fakhar Zaman, who were bought for the base price of $80,000 each.
Phil Oliver, CEO of the Desert Vipers, was happy with the players they got on Thursday.
“We’re delighted with the picks that we’ve secured, including, from a continuity perspective, Fakhar Zaman and Naseem Shah back. It’s very exciting for us to add them back to the squad from the team that won it last year,” Oliver said.
“And to add Babar in is very exciting. He’s a very high-quality player who we know well. He knows the UAE well, and yeah, he’s an excellent pick-up at the top of the order. We can’t wait to welcome him to the Desert Vipers family.”
Meanwhile, England star Liam Livingstone was bought by Gulf Giants for $350,000.
Gulf Giants also bought Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz for $310,000.
Faf du Plessis, the former South African captain, was bought by Dubai Capitals for $300,000.
Prolific Pakistan-born UAE batsman Muhammad Waseem was retained by MI Emirates for $210,000.
But it was Fazalhaq Farooqi of Afghanistan who became the most expensive player in ILT20 history. Farooqi was bought by MI Emirates on Thursday for $380,000.
It’s going to be another exciting season of ILT20 this year, with top guns such as Finn Allen, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen already joining the tournament as pre-auction signings.
While Allen will play for Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Miller and Klaasen will defend the colours of Gulf Giants.
Marcus Stoinis (Dubai Capitals) will also return to the league after a three-year absence.
These stars will be joined by other big names such as Jason Holder, Sunil Narine (Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), Shimron Hetmyer (Desert Vipers), Rovman Powell and Mustafizur Rahman (Dubai Capitals), Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, Romario Shepherd (MI Emirates) and Sikandar Raza (Sharjah Warriorz).
Complete Squad List
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders — Total Spent: USD 1,549,000
Auction Signings: Alishan Sharafu (USD 110,000), Amshi De Silva (USD 100,000), Muhammad Rohid (USD 95,000), Moeen Ali (USD 80,000), Arab Gul (USD 80,000), Usman Tariq (USD 80,000), Gulbadin Naib (USD 75,000), Ibrar Ahmed (USD 46,000), Andre Fletcher (USD 40,000), Ajay Kumar (USD 40,000), Colin Munro (USD 40,000), Michael Pepper (USD 40,000), Qais Ahmad (USD 38,000), Jakeem Pollard (USD 10,000), Abdul Mannan Ali (USD 10,000), Ravija Sandaruwan (USD 10,000), Abdullah Tarakhail (USD 10,000), Lorcan Tucker (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Finn Allen, Jason Holder, Matthew Tromp, Sunil Narine
Desert Vipers — Total Spent: USD 1,544,000
Auction Signings: David Payne (USD 150,000), Fakhar Zaman (USD 80,000), Naseem Shah (USD 80,000), Babar Azam (USD 80,000), Shadab Khan (USD 80,000), Khuzaima Bin Tanveer (USD 75,000), Vriitya Aravind (USD 70,000), Aneurin Donald (USD 40,000), Abdullah Ahmadzai (USD 40,000), Joe Clarke (USD 40,000), Nangeyalia Kharote (USD 28,000), Sanjay Pahal (USD 22,000), Harry Tector (USD 12,000), Ishtiaq Ahmed (USD 12,000), Nilansh Keswani (USD 10,000), Saleem Safi (USD 10,000), Bilal Tahir (USD 10,000), Wali Muhammad (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Andries Gous, Dan Lawrence, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Shimron Hetmyer
Dubai Capitals — Total Spent: USD 1,834,000
Auction Signings: Faf du Plessis (USD 300,000), Max Holden (USD 100,000), Dasun Shanaka (USD 100,000), Aayan Khan (USD 95,000), Hassan Khan (USD 90,000), Phil Salt (USD 80,000), Sediqullah Atal (USD 70,000), Mark Adair (USD 55,000), Karim Janat (USD 40,000), Luke Wood (USD 40,000), Tom Moores (USD 40,000), Haider Ali (USD 38,000), Zuhaib Zubair (USD 26,000), Darwish Rasooli (USD 10,000), Muhammad Arfan (USD 10,000), Matt Potts (USD 10,000), Usman Najeeb (USD 10,000), Anudeep Chenthamara (USD 10,000), Masood Ul Rahman Gurbaz (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Marcus Stoinis, Mustafizur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Rovman Powell
Gulf Giants — Total Spent: USD 1,972,000
Auction Signings: Liam Livingstone (USD 350,000), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (USD 310,000), Alzarri Joseph (USD 230,000), Shamar Joseph (USD 80,000), David Wiese (USD 70,000), Ibrahim Zadran (USD 65,000), Tabraiz Shamsi (USD 40,000), Curtis Campher (USD 22,000), Dhruv Parashar (USD 10,000), Matiullah Khan (USD 10,000), Haider Razzaq (USD 10,000), Imran Mir (USD 10,000), Imtiaz Khan (USD 10,000), Meet Bhavsar (USD 10,000), Shubham Ranjane (USD 10,000), Wahidullah Zadran (USD 10,000), Awais Ahmed (USD 10,000), Sagar Kalyan (USD 10,000), Alick Athanaze (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Azmatullah Omarzai, Blessing Muzarabani, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen
MI Emirates — Total Spent: USD 2,000,000
Auction Signings: Fazalhaq Farooqi (USD 380,000), Muhammad Waseem (USD 210,000), Chris Jordan (USD 170,000), Allah Ghazanfar (USD 150,000), Lizaad Williams (USD 110,000), James Coles (USD 100,000), Jonny Bairstow (USD 80,000), Kusal Perera (USD 40,000), Jordan Thompson (USD 40,000), Zahoor Khan (USD 30,000), Wasim Akram (USD 10,000), Zain Ul Abidin (USD 10,000), Muhammad Shafeeq (USD 10,000), Asa Tribe (USD 10,000), Raizal Nadir Nather Shah (USD 10,000), Sanjay Krishnamurthi (USD 10,000), Faridoon Dawoodzai (USD 10,000), Ross Adair (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, Romario Shepherd, Sherfane Rutherford
Sharjah Warriorz — Total Spent: USD 1,792,000
Auction Signings: Richard Gleeson (USD 180,000), Mohammad Nabi (USD 140,000), Paul Walter (USD 110,000), Adil Rashid (USD 80,000), Brandon McMullen (USD 80,000), Tom Banton (USD 80,000), Craig Overton (USD 80,000), George Linde (USD 40,000), Ali Aamer Naseer (USD 40,000), Fareed Malik (USD 40,000), Sharafuddin Ashraf (USD 40,000), Logan van Beek (USD 40,000), Junaid Siddique (USD 10,000), Tanish Suri (USD 10,000), Nabeel Aziz (USD 10,000), George Dockrell (USD 10,000), Mohammad Saqib (USD 10,000), Arunraj Selvaraj (USD 10,000), James Rew (USD 10,000)
Retentions + Direct Signings: Adam Milne, James Vince, Waqar Salamkheil, Sikandar Raza
Source: Khaleej Times