Key points
- ILT20 players are paid a fee for the season, set in US dollars. The lowest is $10,000, and the highest made public is Fazalhaq Farooqi’s $380,000 at the 2026 auction.
- An auction price covers one season only, so a player’s fee can rise or fall sharply from one year to the next.
- Each team must spend between $1.5 million and $2 million on its 2026 squad.
- The fees of the 24 players signed before the 2026 auction, such as Nicholas Pooran and Rashid Khan, are not made public.
ILT20 players earn a fee for the season, set in US dollars. At the Season 5 auction on 1 October 2026 the lowest price was $10,000 and the highest was the $380,000 MI Emirates paid for Fazalhaq Farooqi, about Rs 3.65 crore in Indian rupees. Fees for players signed before the auction are never published, so the true top earner is not known. This guide explains what the public numbers mean. Fees and rules last checked on 4 October 2026.
How much do ILT20 players earn?
Every player bought at the 2026 auction earns at least $10,000 for the season, the lowest base price. Base prices were $10,000, $40,000 or $80,000, and every UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia player started at $10,000. Bidding then set the final fee.
By our count from the official prices, the 111 players bought at the 2026 auction cost $6.58 million between them, an average of about $59,000. The typical fee was much lower than the headline deals: 41 players went for $10,000, 68 for $40,000 or less, and only six for $200,000 or more.
The highest-paid ILT20 players in 2026
These are the ten biggest fees from the 2026 auction. RTM marks a player kept with a Right to Match card.
| Player | Team | Fee | In Indian rupees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fazalhaq Farooqi |  MI Emirates | $380,000 | Rs 3.65 crore |
| Liam Livingstone |  Gulf Giants | $350,000 | Rs 3.36 crore |
| Rahmanullah GurbazRTM | Gulf Giants | $310,000 | Rs 2.98 crore |
| Faf du Plessis |  Dubai Capitals | $300,000 | Rs 2.88 crore |
| Alzarri Joseph | Gulf Giants | $230,000 | Rs 2.21 crore |
| Muhammad WaseemRTM | MI Emirates | $210,000 | Rs 2.02 crore |
| Richard Gleeson |  Sharjah Warriorz | $180,000 | Rs 1.73 crore |
| Chris Jordan | MI Emirates | $170,000 | Rs 1.63 crore |
| Allah GhazanfarRTM | MI Emirates | $150,000 | Rs 1.44 crore |
| David PayneRTM |  Desert Vipers | $150,000 | Rs 1.44 crore |
Farooqi’s fee is the highest in the league’s auction history, ahead of Liam Livingstone’s $350,000 on the same day. The previous record was Andre Fletcher’s $260,000 in 2025. See every 2026 auction price, and read about Farooqi’s record deal.
The highest fee in each ILT20 season
| Season | Highest public fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 (Season 1) | Not published | Players were signed directly and no fees were released |
| 2024 (Season 2) | Not published | Players were signed directly and no fees were released |
| 2025 (Season 3) | Not published | Players were signed directly and no fees were released |
| 2025-26 (Season 4) | Andre Fletcher, $260,000 | MI Emirates, at the first ILT20 auction |
| 2026 (Season 5) | Fazalhaq Farooqi, $380,000 | MI Emirates |
These are the highest fees made public. Players signed before an auction, or in the first three seasons, may have earned more, but their fees have never been released.
What an ILT20 auction price means
An auction price is the player’s fee for one ILT20 season, in US dollars. It is not a monthly salary, and it does not carry over: at the next auction a player can be priced very differently.
| Player | 2025 auction | 2026 auction |
|---|---|---|
| Andre Fletcher | $260,000 | $40,000 |
| Junaid Siddique | $170,000 | $10,000 |
| Muhammad Rohid | $140,000 | $95,000 |
| Mohammad Nabi | $80,000 | $140,000 |
| Vriitya Aravind | $10,000 | $70,000 |
A team can keep one of its own players by matching the highest bid with a Right to Match card, and the matched price becomes his fee. Our guide to RTM and base prices explains how that works.
How much each ILT20 team can spend
| Season | Team spending rule | How players were signed |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 to 2025 (Seasons 1 to 3) | Up to $2.5 million, with at least $1.5 million spent | Overseas players signed directly; UAE players picked in a draft |
| 2025-26 (Season 4) | Up to $2 million, with at least $1.5 million spent | $1.2 million for retained and direct signings, then an $800,000 auction purse |
| 2026 (Season 5) | Between $1.5 million and $2 million | Up to $700,000 for four pre-signed players, then a $1.3 million auction purse |
Teams have also been allowed wildcard signings outside the budget: up to two, worth an extra $250,000, in the early seasons, and one after the auction in 2026. For 2026, MI Emirates spent the full $2 million and Desert Vipers the least, about $1.54 million. The auction page shows every team’s total spending.
Which ILT20 fees are made public?
- Auction buys: published. The league releases every price on auction day.
- Right to Match: published, because the matched bid is the player’s price.
- Pre-signed players: not published. In 2026 each team signed four players before the auction, such as Nicholas Pooran and Rashid Khan at MI Emirates and Sunil Narine at Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. Only the combined cost can be worked out, and the auction page shows it as pre-auction spending.
- Seasons 1 to 3: no player’s fee was ever published.
What UAE players earn in ILT20
Every squad must include at least four UAE players, so at least 24 UAE cricketers win ILT20 contracts each season. In 2026, for the first time, all of them were bought at the auction rather than signed beforehand: 27 in all, each starting from $10,000, about Rs 9.6 lakh.
Muhammad Waseem set the record for a UAE player when MI Emirates kept him for $210,000 with a Right to Match card, beating Junaid Siddique’s $170,000 from 2025. More than $1 million was spent on UAE players in 2026, and most of them had just played in the ILT20 Development Tournament. Read more about Waseem’s record deal.
What Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and other big names earn
- Babar Azam: $80,000 from Desert Vipers in 2026, his base price.
- Fakhar Zaman: $80,000 from Desert Vipers in both 2025 and 2026, each time at his base price.
- Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah: $80,000 each from Desert Vipers in 2026.
- Sam Curran: his Desert Vipers fee was never published, because he was signed directly rather than at an auction. He is not playing in Season 5.
- R Ashwin: entered the 2025 auction with the highest base price, $120,000, and went unsold. See Indian players in ILT20.
ILT20 salaries in Indian and Pakistani rupees
Fees are set in US dollars. This table converts the main amounts at Rs 95.99 to the dollar for Indian rupees, the FBIL reference rate on 1 October 2026 published by the Reserve Bank of India, and Rs 277.07 for Pakistani rupees, the State Bank of Pakistan rate on 2 October 2026. Exchange rates move, so treat these as a guide.
| Amount | US dollars | Indian rupees | Pakistani rupees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest fee and UAE base price | $10,000 | Rs 9.6 lakh | Rs 2.8 million |
| Middle base price | $40,000 | Rs 38.4 lakh | Rs 11.1 million |
| Top base price (Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman) | $80,000 | Rs 76.8 lakh | Rs 22.2 million |
| Muhammad Waseem, UAE record | $210,000 | Rs 2.02 crore | Rs 58.2 million |
| Liam Livingstone | $350,000 | Rs 3.36 crore | Rs 97.0 million |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi, auction record | $380,000 | Rs 3.65 crore | Rs 105.3 million |
| Team minimum spend | $1,500,000 | Rs 14.40 crore | Rs 415.6 million |
| Team maximum spend | $2,000,000 | Rs 19.20 crore | Rs 554.1 million |
The 2022 pay plan you may still see
Before the first season, ESPNcricinfo reported that the league’s top players would earn up to $450,000 a season, made up of a $340,000 fee and a loyalty bonus of up to $110,000. That plan dates from July 2022, before the auction existed, and no player’s fee from the first three seasons was ever made public. Some websites still show it as current, along with “platinum”, “diamond” and “gold” pay bands. We could not find those bands in any league document or major report, and they are not how ILT20 players are paid today.
ILT20 salaries: questions
How much do ILT20 players earn?
Between $10,000 and $380,000 for the 2026 season, based on the fees made public at the auction. The fees of the 24 players signed before the auction are not published.
Who is the highest-paid player in ILT20?
Fazalhaq Farooqi has the highest fee made public: $380,000 from MI Emirates at the 2026 auction.
Who was the highest-paid ILT20 player in 2025?
Andre Fletcher, bought by MI Emirates for $260,000 at the first ILT20 auction in October 2025.
What is the ILT20 salary cap?
For 2026, each team must spend between $1.5 million and $2 million. The cap was $2.5 million in the first three seasons and $2 million in 2025-26.
Is an ILT20 auction price paid every month?
No. It is a fee for the whole season, set in US dollars.
How much does a UAE player earn in ILT20?
At least $10,000 a season. The record is Muhammad Waseem’s $210,000 from MI Emirates in 2026.
What is Fakhar Zaman’s ILT20 salary?
$80,000 from Desert Vipers, in both 2025 and 2026.
What was Sam Curran’s ILT20 salary?
It was never made public. Desert Vipers signed him directly, and he is not playing in Season 5.
Is there an ILT20 salary list PDF?
There is no official salary list. Our auction page lists every 2026 auction price, and the squads page shows each player’s price or whether he was pre-signed.
Are ILT20 salaries tax-free?
The UAE does not charge personal income tax, but players may still owe tax in their home countries.
Sources: ESPNcricinfo on the 2026 auction, Wisden on the 2026 auction rules, The National auction guide, The National on UAE fees, Wisden auction live blog, ESPNcricinfo on the 2025 salary cap, FICA league summary, 2024, ESPNcricinfo on the 2022 pay plan, Gulf News on the 2025 auction, ESPN on the 2025 auction, The National on 2025 fees, The National on Sam Curran, Reserve Bank of India reference rates, State Bank of Pakistan rates, UAE government on tax.
Spotted a mistake? Email info@internationaleaguet20.com and we will correct it, noting the change at the top of the article.
