IPL Auction 2026 (X.com: @SANDEEPMH07)
Finally, the wait is over, as all 10 Indian Premier League (IPL) teams are soon to approach the IPL 2026 auction in Abu Dhabi at the Etihad Arena on Tuesday. The different financial statuses of each franchise make the high-octane bidding war even more intriguing.
Notably, with a maximum squad size of 25, franchises will compete to fill up to 77 available slots at the mini-auction. All teams will have a combined purse of ₹237.55 crore to spend at the 2026 IPL auction.
That said, let's look at how each team stands heading into the auction.
1. Kolkata Knight Riders - ₹64.30 crore
The three-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are set to enter the battle with the largest purse - ₹64.30 crore, hence the opportunity to chase whomever they want. KKR has the most gaps to fill in its squad. Notably, they need a top-order overseas wicket-keeper batter, a middle-order backbone, a finisher and an overseas pacer in particular.
Slots Left: Maximum 13 (6 overseas)
Current Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.
2. Chennai Super Kings - ₹43.40
The five-time champions have nine slots, including four overseas, to fill in the marquess event. CSK's prime target will be to attain at least two players in their lower middle-order, after the trades of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. Moreover, a frontline Indian spinner and an overseas pace backup will be their priority.
Slots Left: Maximum 9 (4 overseas)
Current Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, MS Dhoni, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Sanju Samson.
3. Sunrisers Hyderabad - ₹25.50
The Pat Cummins SRH must acquire a spinner, either domestic or foreign, in the mini auction on Tuesday. The addition of a few Indian pacers won't bother them either. Moreover, to curb the injured Cummins' workload, they should ideally have some extra protection as an all-rounder.
Slots Left: Maximum 10 (2 overseas)
Current Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari.
4. Lucknow Super Giants - ₹22.95
The mini-auction on December 16 will serve as an excellent opportunity for LSG to target an overseas middle-order batter who can be entrusted with the finisher’s role. Moreover, an Indian pacer might also be demanded, along with one or maybe even two foreign seamers. A replacement for Ravi Bishnoi would be ideal.
Slots Left: Maximum 6 (4 overseas)
Current Squad: Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar.
5. Delhi Capitals - ₹21.80
After releasing both openers, Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk, DC certainly need overseas top-order batters. With five overseas slots left, the Capitals can also go for overseas middle-order hitters. An Indian pacer could also be on their shortlist.
Slots Left: Maximum 8 (5 overseas)
Current Squad: Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana.
6. Royal Challengers Bengaluru - ₹16.40
Defending champions RCB enter the 2026 mini-auction with a settled core of 17 retained players, including stars like Virat Kohli, captain Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Josh Hazlewood, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Thus, RCB's strategy is likely to focus on bolstering their middle-order batting depth and their foreign and Indian pace options, without a complete overhaul to preserve their title-winning balance.
Slots Left: Maximum 8 (2 overseas)
Current Squad: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma.
7. Rajasthan Royals - ₹16.05
The primary gap for RR is a wrist-spinner to support newly traded Ravindra Jadeja. With a limited budget ruling out top Indian options like Ravi Bishnoi, the franchise may have to explore either an overseas wrist-spinner or an uncapped domestic talent at the auction. They also need some Indian back-up batting options to add a bit of depth in their squad.
Slots Left: Maximum 9 (1 overseas)
Current Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira.
8. Gujarat Titans - ₹12.90
Having traded Sherfane Rutherford to Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans will be on the lookout for a middle-order enforcer, possibly an overseas one. Expect them to also go for an overseas pacer, given Kagiso Rabada's injury history.
Slots Left: Maximum 5 (4 overseas)
Current Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips.
9. Punjab Kings - ₹11.50
The previous season's runners-up, PBKS, have already made their needs public. They are hunting for an explosive middle-order batter, a reliable backup keeper, and an extra Indian bowling option.
Slots Left: Maximum 4 (2 overseas)
Current Squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod.
10. Mumbai Indians - ₹2.75
MI is set to enter the IPL 2026 Abu Dhabi auction with the lowest-ever mini-auction budget and a squad set to take the field. Their priority would likely be a backup for overseas wicket-keeper batter Ryan Rickelton. Further, MI could go for lesser-known Indian middle-order batters and Indian spinners.
Slots Left: Maximum 5 (1 overseas)
Current Squad: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur.
