In a surprising development, R Ashwin went unsold at the ILT20 auction on Wednesday (October 1).
R Ashwin goes unsold in first ILT20 player auction
The star India spinner retired from the IPL earlier this year, following his retirement from international cricket last December – leaving him free to “become an explorer of various leagues,” as he said in a social media post. These retirements made him free to participate in overseas T20 franchise leagues.
As part of his next venture, Ashwin signed up for the ILT20 auction, which took place yesterday. It was the first auction in the league's four-season history, and he had the highest base price at 120,000 US dollars, with many anticipating that his star power could induce a bidding war. A week ago, he signed a deal to play for Sydney Thunder in this year's Big Bash League, which overlaps with the ILT20's upcoming season. Had he played the ILT20, he may only have been available for the latter stages of the BBL.
Nevertheless, Ashwin's name came up in the fifth round of yesterday's auction, and auctioneer Richard Madley allowed nearly two full minutes to pass, waiting for a bid, but none was forthcoming. It was expected that, as with the other unsold players, his name would return in one of the accelerated auction rounds towards the end, but it never did, causing widespread confusion among viewers.
Did Ashwin pull out of the ILT20 auction?
“We're hearing that he pulled himself out of the auction,” said broadcaster Simon Doull on the live post-auction show. “It's a massive surprise to me, you've got to read the room. You've got to understand what's going on out there... and all that money left.
“Have a look at the purses left, there's three teams with over $400,000 left in their pot. Now, I don't think they came in not wanting to spend money. It's there to be spent. And if he [Ashwin] has pulled himself out of the auction, then he just hasn't read the room. Maybe he just thought, 'Well, they didn't pick me up in the first round, I'm going to pull out now', and that's just the wrong way to go about it. I think sides would have gone for him in the end.”
Owais Shah, sitting alongside Doull, added, “Early on, when we heard that he'd pulled his name out, we all thought, 'You've jumped the bridge too early'. Just hang in there, because of the fact that as auctions typically unfold, not everybody gets their man. And often, as you've seen, the amount of money that's left over, he would've easily got that $200,000, if not more. He is worth every penny.”
At the end of the auction, each team had over $120,000 left in their auction purse, with Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Dubai Capitals and Gulf Giants boasting purses over $500,000. ADKR had two open spots in their squad, and GG had one, meaning those two franchises were still viable destinations for Ashwin.
Deleted YouTube videos add to confusion around Ashwin's ILT20 deal
A couple of hours before the auction, a video was posted on Ashwin's YouTube channels (Tamil and Hindi), featuring presenter Sastika Rajendran, explaining the rules around the ILT20 auction, along with some quotes from ILT20 CEO David White. However, that video has since been made private, meaning it is no longer accessible.
For the last season of the league, in early 2025, Ashwin and his YouTube channel were official content partners of the league, a paid partnership that also allowed him the privilege of using ILT20 match footage in his videos.
This may not be the end of the story, though. Since two teams still have slots and enough in their auction purse, Ashwin may yet sign for one of them as a wildcard (i.e., outside the auction) signing. The deleting of the YouTube video remains puzzling, though, and whether his BBL deal affected yesterday's events are also unknown.
There were a couple of other confusing occurrences during yesterday's auction. Just after the first break, Madley announced that the league had received an email an hour before it started, raising England all-rounder Dan Mousley's base price from $10,000 to $80,000. Mousley's name came up in the following set, and he went unsold.
Further, former Vidarbha spinner Akshay Wakhare was picked up by the Dubai Capitals for $10,000. The 39-year-old was not on the auction list published the previous day. Despite suggestions of him registering as a local player after potentially relocating to the UAE, the ILT20 website lists him as Indian.
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