The ILT20 and SA20 will avoid clashing with each other for a major part of the 2025-26 season.
In what comes as a significant development, the International League T20 (ILT20) will reportedly avoid a direct clash with the SA20 tournament later this year. Over the last three years, both the UAE-based ILT20 and South Africa’s SA20 have clashed with each other with both teams competing for the same pool of international players.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, David White, the Chief Executive of ILT20, has confirmed that the major reason to move up the ILT20 os to get access to a “bigger pool of players”.
The ILT20’s 2024-25 edition is set to begin on December 2, with the final scheduled to take place on January 4. The 2025-26 season of the SA20 tournament, on the other hand, will get underway on December 26, 2025 and will run until 26 January 2026.
The separate windows for ILT20 and SA20 will also mean that the IPL-bound overseas players will get more time to prepare for next summer’s tournament.
The ILT20 has so far employed direct signings ever since the inaugural season was played in 2023. However, an auction will take place from this season onwards with the auction for the upcoming season set to take place in September.
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Meanwhile the franchises are currently involved in the planning of their player retentions for the next season. All teams will be able to spend an extra amount of US$250,000 on additional “wildcard” signings. The ILT20 has also reduced the wage cap of all six franchises from US$2.5 million to US$2 million, meaning that there has been a 20 per cent cut.
The ILT20 has often faced criticism for requiring just a minimum of two players from the UAE to feature in a team’s playing XI. This is a start contrast in comparison to the Indian Premier League, wherein only four overseas players are allowed in a team’s playing XI.
The rediction in wage cap for ILT20 teams will also be a major boost for the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia.
Several BBL franchises have found it difficult to keep hold of their overseas players, who have often travelled to the UAE for the ILT20 before the BBL knockout stages. Some of the players have even completely skipped the BBL. The BBL draft for the next season will take place on June 19. The BBL draft has been moved up in a bid for teams to secure top overseas players.
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