ILT20 dream factory alters dynamic ahead of UAE’s T20 World Cup qualifying bid

Squad experienced sudden disparity in wealth when league’s first auction happened just as national team set off for Muscat

UAE's Junaid Siddique landed a $170k contract in the ILT20 auction. AFP

With one sharp tap of his gavel at the DP World International League T20 (ILT20) auction last Wednesday, Richard Madley changed the life of Junaid Siddique. He might also have altered the face of cricket in the UAE at the same moment.

The British auctioneer is well used to making princes of paupers. He did exactly that for years in the IPL, where far greater sums of money are lavished on stars of the world game, as well as less well-known aspirants.

This was a totally new experience for UAE cricketers, though. No one knew quite how the first auction for the country’s own franchise league would play out.

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All six teams in the league, whose fourth season starts in December, are obliged to play at least two UAE players in their starting XI. It stands to reason that they want the best and should be willing to pay for them.

The UAE players had the lowest base prices of the players in the auction. Their $10,000 reserve is decent money for four weeks’ work, but some way short of the $120,000 Ravichandran Ashwin listed himself at.

While the Indian spinner went unsold in the opening round of bidding, then withdrew after being miffed at being overlooked, some UAE players attracted serious interest. Two even went for more than Ashwin’s base price.

Tanish Suri was the first name to be put up for bidding. The talented young wicketkeeper-batter went unsold. The same happened to Ethan D’Souza, although the Abu Dhabi-born and raised batter was luckier later on when he was picked up by Sharjah Warriorz.

Then Vriitya Aravind became the first player to be signed in an ILT20 auction. Desert Vipers brought in from the cold one of the most prolific UAE batters, who remains curiously absent from the national team. His bid did not go beyond the base price, but he is just happy to be back involved.

What followed might have had the biggest impact of anything the ILT20 has achieved for domestic cricket in its four or so years as a competition. After bidding wars for each of them, Mohammed Rohid went for $140,000, then Siddique went for $170,000.

The organisers of the privately-owned ILT20 are keen to point out the difference the league is making to the game in the country.

Impactful playing opportunities have been scarce for domestic players since its inception. But the auction showed that it can be life-altering for the lucky ones.

Siddique has spent more than a decade making himself an overnight sensation. After first arriving in the UAE in 2014, he could not cobble together the money for a return flight to Pakistan for four and a half years.

After 2019, he was able to set aside the day jobs he had been doing, like packing bags in grocery stores, and focus on cricket when he became a mainstay of the national team.

Then came the ILT20 auction shock. On the Dh8,000 basic monthly salary UAE’s top centrally-contracted players get, it would take six and a half years to earn what Siddique will get for playing in this season of the league.

All of which begs the question: what will be the impact on the dynamic of the team who are vying for T20 World Cup qualification at a tournament in Muscat this week?

More than half the 15-man squad have not even been deemed worthy of selection in the ILT20. Of the six who have been, Rohid, Siddique and leg-spinner Mohammed Farooq, were bought at auction. The other three, Muhammed Waseem, Haider Ali and Alishan Sharafu were retained by their sides after succeeding in previous seasons.

Others are conspicuous by their absence from the squad in Muscat. Players like Aayan Khan, Mohammed Jawadullah and Asif Khan are valued by ILT20 franchises, yet omitted from the team vying for World Cup qualification in the same format.

Will the money being made by Siddique and Rohid foster resentment and jealousy among their teammates? Siddique said the first person to call him to congratulate him, before even his friends or family, was Waseem, the UAE captain.

But it stands to reason not everyone might feel the same, given the sudden wealth disparity. Some members of the squad survive on the retainers they get to play for the UAE, plus match fees they can get for playing A Division cricket. Others are not even contracted.

Jonathan Figy, newly restored to the national team after nearly six years out, does maths tuition to tide him over while he pursues his cricket ambitions.

And yet whatever the immediate feelings are, the players all now know that that could be them one day, if the gavel falls in their favour.

The ILT20's inaugural player auction took place at the Four Seasons Hotel in Dubai. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National

Bidding starts for England fast bowler Tymal Mills

Desert Vipers discuss their next pick during the player auction in Dubai on Wednesday

Sharjah Warriors head coach JP Duminy takes part in the auction

MI Emirates head coach Robin Singh

Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman was picked up by Desert Vipers

Gulf Giants head coach Jonathan Trott

Dubai capitals plot their next move

Gulf Giants' James Vince during the auction

That could also have further consequences for the game in the UAE. The sums attracted at the auction will not have gone unnoticed in the subcontinent.

Disaffected cricketers in India and Pakistan have often moved to the Emirates when opportunities for progressing in their home countries have dried up.

Seeing players like Wasim Akram Jr ($55,000) and Haider Razzaq ($50,000) get such handsome pay days before they are even eligible yet for the UAE will surely encourage more people to switch.

UAE cricket could be set for an even greater influx of players from abroad, all going in search of that pot of gold at the ILT20.