ILT20 Season 5 To Be Played From November 22 To December 20

The fifth edition of United Arab Emirates' ILT20 league will be held from November 22 to December 20, featuring 34 matches. Dubai International Stadium will host the final of the six-team tournament.

Sam Curran, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Pathum Nissanka, Jason Holder, Jason Roy, Kieron Pollard, Moeen Ali, Nicholas Pooran and Phil Salt were among the international stars who played last season. The Desert Vipers are the defending champions, having lifted their maiden title in season 4 by defeating MI Emirates.

The league was played in December-January instead of January-February last time, and has been further advanced this season to avoid concurrency with the other T20 competitions happening around the same time like the SA20, which is to start after January 10 in 2027.

"We are delighted with Season 4's success," ILT20 chief executive David White said in a statement on Monday (April 13, 2026). "The broadcast numbers, spectators' interest and participation of the biggest T20 stars made the tournament a massive success as the quality of the league grew further.

"The DP World ILT20 continues to make massive strides and our strategic partnerships with Saudi Arabia Cricket Federation and Kuwait Cricket are already making a big impact. This year, these partnerships will be consolidated further through our development tournaments, which will be played in both countries prior to Season 5."

There will be an auction before the tournament for the six teams  to finalise their squads. "The ILT20 Season 4 Player Auction was a great success as well and we are already gearing up for this year's auction," said White.

The other five teams in fray are Gulf Giants, MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals, Sharjah Warriorz and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders.