ILT20 has introduced wildcard signings which can help the franchises pick two players at any point during the season.
ILT20 introduces Wildcard picks
The ILT20 will allow franchises to sign two players as wildcards from the second season onwards. The franchises will be permitted to spend a maximum of US$ 250,000 on wildcards. The ILT20 2024 is set to be played between January 19 and February 17.
The ILT20 rules allow franchises to have a purse of US$ 2.5m to build a 22-member squad. With all six teams filling their squads for the 2024 season, the ILT20 has given them the option to sign two more players.
The Wildcards signings are not mandatory but serve as an option for picks by the franchises. The ILT20 has said that the franchise could spend a maximum of 10% of the purse to pick the wildcard players.
Teams with a balance purse can use the wildcard option as long as the signing is within the $250,000 limit. The league committee also pointed out that a wildcard player could not be replaced with a fresh wildcard signing. So far, no wildcard signings have happened.
ILT20 is the third franchise league to deploy a wildcard signing after The Hundred and SA20. The South African league had introduced the wildcard option with a salary of $10,290 which would not be accounted from the purse.
The wildcard entry is the second new rule to be added to ILT20 and they also allowed franchises to bring in a Super-Sub during a match similar to the impact player in the IPL.
While not mandatory, teams can introduce the Super-sub at any point of the league after the first over the match or even at the start of the second innings. The key condition set by the ILT20 though is that a minimum of two UAE players must be part of the Playing 11 at all times.
Sharjah Warriors and Gulf Giants will be playing their first match in the ILT20 league on January 19 at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
