Leading players from around the world enjoyed bumper pay days at the DP World International League T20 auction in Dubai.<\/p>\n
But Pakistan\u2019s top stars were recruited at bargain basement prices as they continue to be largely overlooked by Indian franchise owners.<\/p>\n
Babar Azam has scored more T20 international runs than anyone in history, and was one of the best-known players in the auction<\/a>.<\/p>\n He was purchased for his base rate of $80,000 by Desert Vipers, who faced no competing bids.<\/p>\n The Vipers, who are owned by the American businessman Avram Glazer, also brought back fellow Pakistanis Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Naseem Shah for their base prices.<\/p>\n While their pay days represent healthy salaries for a month of cricket, they paled in comparison to some of the bids made for players from elsewhere.<\/p>\n Fazalhaq Farooqi, from Afghanistan, earned the biggest payday in the short history of the competition so far, as he went to MI Emirates for $380,000.<\/p>\n Within a dizzying few minutes, England\u2019s Liam Livingstone had fetched $350,000, Afghanistan\u2019s Rahmanullah Gurbaz went for $310,000, and $300,000 was spent on Faf du Plessis, the former South Africa captain.<\/p>\n A number of UAE players<\/a> also earned substantially more than the Pakistan players. Muhammad Waseem, who was the leading local player in each of the first four seasons of the competition, landed a massive bid worth $210,000.<\/p>\n It smashed the record for a UAE player<\/a>, set a season earlier when fast bowler Junaid Siddique joined Sharjah Warriorz for $170,000.<\/p>\n Alishan Sharafu went for $110,000, while Aayan Khan and Mohammed Rohid each landed bids of $95,000.<\/p>\n The trend was typical last year, when an auction for the UAE\u2019s T20 franchise tournament was staged for the first time.<\/p>\n