The much-anticipated IPL 2026 auction is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi on December 16, 2025. A total of 369 players will enter the auction pool, with all ten franchises competing to fill 77 available slots as they look to complete their squads ahead of the tournament’s 19th season.
The mini-auction features 77 vacancies, including 31 earmarked for overseas players. The highest reserve price has been fixed at INR 2 crore, a bracket that includes 40 players.
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green (INR 25.20 crore to KKR) grabbed the headlines with a massive bid in the opening set, while Venkatesh Iyer emerged as the priciest signing in the second set after being snapped up by RCB for INR 7 crore.
The capped fast bowlers set saw Gerald Coetzee, Matt Henry, Shivam Mavi, and India’s Akash Deep going unsold. New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy was bought for his base price of INR 2 crores by RCB.
The next player was Matheesha Pathirana, and he started a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants before KKR entered at INR 16 crores and bought the Sri Lankan pacer for INR 18 crores. Pathirana became the most expensive Sri Lankan player ever sold in an IPL auction.
Anrich Nortje found a new home at LSG, while Fazalhaq Farooqi and Spencer Johnson went unsold.
Capped spinners set saw Rahul Chahar going unsold, but the interest from several franchises was seen for Ravi Bishnoi.
CSK and RR set off a bidding war for Bishnoi, who was with LSG since the 2022 IPL. CSK exited the race when the bidding crossed INR 6 crores, and then RR and SRH engaged in bidding until RR won the bid with INR 7.20 crores.
Maheesh Theekshana of Sri Lanka went unsold, and so did Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan. However, CSK placed a bid on West Indies’ Akeal Hossein and got him for his base price.
