As fans gear up to witness one of the most popular T20 tournaments across the subcontinent, all but a day is left before the beginning of the mini auction for IPL 2026. The mini auction for IPL 2026 is scheduled to take place on December 16 (tomorrow) in Abu Dhabi.
All 10 franchises are set to enter the mini auction with tightly managed purse balances and clearly defined auction strategies. Out of more than 1000 listed players, 359 have been shortlisted by BCCI for tomorrow’s auction.
Ahead of the auction all franchises have released the list of released and transferred sportspersons. Some of the biggest trades made ahead of the mini auction include that of Ravindera Jadeja, Sam Curran and Sanju Samson. The upcoming season will mark the end of Jadeja’s long stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Both Jadeja and Sam Curran have been traded to Rajasthan Royals (RR) by their former club in exchange for Sanju Samson, who is also the part of the Indian squad for the ongoing T20I against South Africa.
With a combined purse of Rs 237.55 crore, all 10 franchises will bid on 350 shortlisted players to fill 77 available slots.
IPL Auction: Franchise purse size
Franchise wise budget for the upcoming auctions have been listed as follows:
| Team | Remaining Purse (RS crore) | Total Slots Left | Overseas Slots |
| CSK | 43.4 | 9 | 4 |
| DC | 21.8 | 8 | 5 |
| GT | 12.9 | 5 | 4 |
| KKR | 64.3 | 13 | 6 |
| LSG | 22.95 | 6 | 4 |
| MI | 2.75 | 5 | 1 |
| PBKS | 11.5 | 4 | 2 |
| RCB | 16.4 | 8 | 2 |
| RR | 16.05 | 9 | 1 |
| SRH | 25.5 | 10 | 2 |
While some clubs like Shah Rukh Khan led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) enter the mini auction with a sizable acquisition budget, Nita Ambani led Mumbai Indians (MI) has gone out of its way to enter the mini auctions with a record low budget of just 2.75 crore. Sport analysts believe this move from Mumbai expresses their confidence in their scouting programs.
IPL Auction: Player pool
The player pool is a mix of capped overseas names, reliable Indian domestic performers and young U-19 talent. Since this is a mini auction, most teams have retained their core groups and released only a handful of players
The highest base price set for capped players for the upcoming auction is that of Rs 2 crore. 40 players have been given this valuation ahead of tomorrow’s auction of which only two are Indian cricketers. The two Indians to receive this valuation are Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
A total of 359 players have been shortlisted for the IPL 2026 Auction, including 244 Indians and 115 overseas cricketers. Of these, 112 are capped players, while 238 remain uncapped, offering franchises a wide mix of experience and emerging talent.