The IPL 2026 auction is set to feature 350 players after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) pruned the initial list of 1,390 registered players. The auction will take place on December 16 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, commencing at 1:00 PM UAE time (2:30 PM IST).
Key Numbers and Categories
The finalized list includes 240 Indian players and 110 overseas players. Among them, 16 are capped Indian players and 96 are capped overseas players. The pool also features 224 uncapped Indian players and 14 uncapped overseas players. A total of 77 player slots are available, with 31 reserved for overseas players.
Base Prices and Notable Players
The highest reserve price remains at INR 2 crore, with 40 players opting to place themselves in this bracket. Ravi Bishnoi and Venkatesh Iyer are the only two Indian players to set their base price at the maximum of INR 2 crore.
Several top Indian players are included in the registration list, such as Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, KS Bharat, Rahul Chahar, Akash Deep, Deepak Hooda, Sarfaraz Khan and Umesh Yadav.
Surprise Additions
In a notable turn of events, 35 new players were added to the list who had not initially registered. This includes South African wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock, who was added at the request of a franchise. De Kock has set his base price at INR 1 crore, a significant drop from the INR 2 crore he commanded in the previous mega auction.
Other overseas players added to the auction roster include Afghanistan's Arab Gul, England's Miles Hammond and Dan Lategan, South Africa's Connor Eztherhuizen, George Linde and Bayanda Majola, Sri Lanka's Traveen Mathew, Binura Fernando, Kusal Perera and Dunith Wellalage, and West Indies' Akeem Auguste. Several domestic players have also been included, such as Vishnu Solanki, Parikshit Valsangkar, Sadek Hussain and Izaz Sawariya.
Auction Format
The auction will begin with a full round of capped players, categorized by their specialism: batters, all-rounders, wicket-keeper/batters, fast bowlers, and spin bowlers. This will be followed by a similar order for uncapped players. An accelerated phase is scheduled to commence after the first 70 players are presented. The first accelerated round will cover players ranked 71 to 350. Franchises can then request the presentation of unsold or unpresented players for further consideration.
Team Purses
The ten franchises have a combined INR 237.55 crore to spend. Some of the remaining purses for teams include:
- Sunrisers Hyderabad – ₹25.50 crore
- Delhi Capitals – ₹21.80 crore
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru – ₹22.95 crore
- Lucknow Super Giants – ₹16.40 crore
- Rajasthan Royals – ₹16.05 crore
- Gujarat Titans – ₹12.90 crore
- Punjab Kings – ₹11.50 crore
- Mumbai Indians – ₹2.75 crore
With the auction date fast approaching, teams are finalizing their strategies to acquire the players they need to build competitive squads for the upcoming IPL season.
