These days we are seeing a surge in new T20 leagues popping up across the world. And these leagues attract a lot of cricketers thanks to the lucrative salaries and deals they offer.
Many local and international cricketers put their names in the ring and expect a team to sign them ahead of a season. Now all T20 leagues don’t follow the same player acquisition process, with some preferring player auctions while others organise drafts.
This article will give you a rundown of the player draft system used in some T20 leagues.
So what is a player draft?
See, a player draft is a process of signing players in an open and transparent manner. All the teams are under one roof while the draft goes on, and teams add players to their rosters when their turn comes up.
But before the draft takes place, the leagues invite players to register themselves in the pool as per their skills and experience. A player with better skills and experience may register in a higher category, while a rookie player may go for a lower category. Plus, leagues also differentiate local and international players in the draft.
For instance, in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), players can register for the draft in the Platinum, Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Emerging categories.
Each category has a specified base salary, which a player receives if a team picks them in the draft. The higher the category, the higher the salary a player gets.
To give you an idea, let’s see how the salary bands work in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). If a team picks a Platinum category player, the signed player will receive AUD420,000 for playing in the full season.
Here’s the complete breakdown of salary bands in the BBL according to each category:
| Category | Salary (in Australian Dollars) |
|---|---|
| Platinum | $420,000 |
| Gold | $300,000 |
| Silver | $200,000 |
| Bronze | $100,000 |
Now comes the big question –
How does the player draft work?
A player draft is quite different from how a player auction works. If you have watched an IPL auction, then you must have seen franchises engaging in fierce bidding wars for players.
But it’s quite contrasting in a draft, which doesn’t have a lot of drama. Teams simply pick up players from the draft pool once their turn comes up in each round.
The draft happens in a sequential manner, with teams taking turns to add players to their squad. And leagues decide the sequential order before the draft, determining which team gets the first pick.
Now how do the leagues determine the team order?
Most of the leagues use a random draw or a lottery to decide the team order. For instance, in the BBL 2024 draft, Melbourne Stars got the first pick after a weighted lottery, while other teams followed them.
Now the order doesn’t remain the same in each round. The order will be reversed after certain rounds.
Let’s continue with the BBL 2024 draft example. The Stars made first picks in the first two rounds, while in the third round, they were last in the order. But for the fourth round, the Stars returned to the first spot.
After the pick orders are determined, the teams make their picks on the draft day. The team placed in the first spot opens the proceedings by selecting the first player from the pool.
A draft has fixed rounds under each category, allowing teams to sign required players. The drafts can also have supplementary rounds after the fixed rounds are done.
Now, it’s not mandatory that a team picks a player in each round. They may pass their turn if the player doesn’t fit the bill.
Plus, some leagues also allow teams to retain a few players who played for them in the last edition. They can use Right-to-Match (RTM) cards to retain a player even if the other team has a chance to pick the concerned player.
After all teams fill up their minimum slots, the draft wraps up, with teams ready to make the most out of their picks in the upcoming season.
Which T20 leagues use the draft system?
A lot of prominent T20 leagues have the player draft in place to build squads. As mentioned above, the BBL and PSL follow the draft system for player acquisitions.
Apart from the two leagues, England’s The Hundred, West Indies’ Caribbean Premier League, USA’s Major League Cricket, and many others organise player drafts.
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