Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Roy, Shakib Al Hasan and Fakhar Zaman will be among the marquee international cricketers to go under the hammer at the ILT20 Season 4 Player Auction on Wednesday, October 1.
The first-ever auction in the league’s history will feature close to 300 players from more than 20 nationalities, combining top-flight and upcoming talent along with regional players from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Apart from the seasoned spinner, four other Indians, Ankit Rajput, Priyank Panchal, Siddarth Kaul and Piyush Chawla have enrolled themselves into the auction.
Franchises must spend a minimum of USD 1.5 million and they shall not go beyond USD 2 million, with the option of signing up to two Wildcard players outside the auction for an additional USD 250,000. Furthermore, the team sheet for every match must include at least two UAE players along with one further Associate Nation player.
Players have been grouped into price slabs of USD 120,000, 80,000, 40,000, and 10,000. Ashwin belongs to the 120,000 category as he gears up for his maiden foray into global franchise cricket since his retirement.
Should the paddle go up for him, the Indian all-rounder would become the most high-profile name from the country to feature in the UAE league, now into its fourth edition. Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan have previously been picked but are yet to debut, while Ambati Rayudu is the only other Indian to have featured in the competition when he turned up for MI Emirates in eight games. Keeping an eye on Ashwin’s performance, if he does make the cut, will help punters with regards to online betting.
Recently, Ashwin drew the curtains on his Indian Premier League career. The veteran announced his decision on X, and hinted at playing franchise cricket around the globe. “They say every ending will have a new start, my time as an IPL cricketer comes to a close today, but my time as an explorer of the game around various leagues begins today,” Ashwin posted.
Ashwin returned to his native franchise Chennai Super Kings recently
The 38-year-old, whose maiden appearance in the league came all the way back in 2009 with CSK, went on to feature in 221 matches across multiple franchises, scalping 187 wickets. He walks away as the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the IPL, having featured in 16 of the 18 seasons.
Ashwin was central to CSK’s title wins in 2010 and 2011, contributing 13 and 20 wickets respectively. In 2010, Ashwin was adjudged the player of the series in CSK’s Champions League T20 triumph. In next year’s IPL final, he opened the bowling and dismissed Chris Gayle for a duck in RCB’s chase of CSK’s 205/5. He won a second Champions League T20 trophy with CSK in 2014.
