16-0 Game · Published 8 October 2026
Every 16-0 XI may include at most four overseas players, as in the real competition. The rule shapes many drafts, because the overseas cards are disproportionately the strong ones.
Overseas cards are fewer but stronger
Overseas players make up 36% of all cards but 48% of cards rated 85 or higher. An overseas card averages 72.0; a domestic card averages 68.1.
The imbalance is not the same in every role. Spinners and all-rounders lean hardest on overseas players among the elite cards; batters lean least.
| Role | Rated 85+ | Overseas | Domestic | Overseas share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | 107 | 47 | 60 | 44% |
| Wicketkeepers | 37 | 15 | 22 | 41% |
| All-rounders | 24 | 14 | 10 | 58% |
| Pace bowlers | 49 | 23 | 26 | 47% |
| Spinners | 29 | 20 | 9 | 69% |
Has it changed over time?
Grouping the 85+ cards by season shows whether the overseas share of the elite tier has shifted across the competition's history. In the game's ratings the share peaked in 2013–2017 at 60% and is lowest in the most recent period, 2023–2026, at 37%.
| Seasons | Cards rated 85+ | Overseas | Overseas share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2012 | 61 | 29 | 48% |
| 2013–2017 | 47 | 28 | 60% |
| 2018–2022 | 73 | 38 | 52% |
| 2023–2026 | 65 | 24 | 37% |
Real squads hit the limit
When we built each real squad's strongest legal XI, 148 of 158 used all four overseas places. In 80 squads, the limit forced out a better player: with no limit, the same formation would have fielded a stronger side.
RCB 2013 is the clearest case. Without the limit its best XI would include 7 overseas players, and keeping it to four costs 3.3 rating points per slot on average.
| Squad | Overseas in uncapped best XI | Average rating lost per slot |
|---|---|---|
| RCB 2013 | 7 | 3.3 |
| DEC 2011 | 7 | 3.3 |
| RCB 2015 | 6 | 2.9 |
| DEC 2009 | 6 | 2.2 |
| RR 2008 | 6 | 1.5 |
| DEC 2008 | 6 | 1.4 |
| RCB 2008 | 6 | 1.4 |
| KKR 2008 | 7 | 1.4 |
What the four places are worth
To measure the places directly, we rebuilt each squad's best XI in the same formation using domestic players only. 45 of the 158 squads could still fill every role that way.
For those squads, giving up the overseas players costs an average of 5.9 rating points per slot, and average title odds fall from 2.3% to 0.1%. Four places out of eleven carry a large share of a real squad's strength.
The overseas players real squads lean on
Counting the overseas players chosen in each squad's best XI, a handful of names recur across several seasons and franchises. These are the players whose cards most often decide how a real squad's four places are spent.
| Player | Best XIs | Peak rating |
|---|---|---|
| Sunil Narine | 14 | 95 |
| AB de Villiers | 13 | 96 |
| Chris Gayle | 13 | 95 |
| David Warner | 13 | 95 |
| Jos Buttler | 11 | 96 |
| Kieron Pollard | 11 | 93 |
| Andre Russell | 10 | 96 |
| David Miller | 10 | 88 |
| Faf du Plessis | 10 | 90 |
| Glenn Maxwell | 10 | 94 |
The board uses all four
On the public leaderboard snapshot, 25 of the 30 best regular runs used all four places. Four is not required to reach the top of the board, but it is the norm there.
Spending the four places well
Because domestic depth is greatest among batters, an overseas batter is usually the easiest place to economise. Domestic elite options are thinnest among spinners and all-rounders, so those roles are where an overseas place buys the most.
Watch the order too. Filling four overseas places early makes every later overseas card ineligible, including the one you might need for a hard-to-fill role. The draft shows your overseas count for exactly this reason.