There will be no Right to Match card in IPL 2026 mini auction
Kolkata Knight Riders have biggest purse (INR 64.3 crore)
Mumbai Indians have smallest purse, with only INR 2.75 crore
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on December 16. There are a total of 77 available slots across the 10 franchises, including 31 for overseas players.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending IPL champions, while Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians remain the most successful teams, having won the title five times each.
Here are five things to know about the IPL 2026 auction:
First Things First
This is a mini auction, not mega, meaning all the teams have already retained their core group of players and are now looking to give a definitive shape to their respective squads.
No Right To Match Card
But there will be no Right to Match (RTM) card, which allows franchises to resign a released player by matching the highest bid made by another team. It was introduced ahead of the 2014 edition and remains exclusive for the mega auction.
Biggest And Smallest Purse
Teams in focus are the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), thanks to their available purse. While KKR enter the IPL 2026 auction with INR 64.3 crore and the most available slots (13) to fill, CSK can spend up to INR 43.40 crore and sign nine players.
Mumbai Indians (MI) have the smallest purse, with only INR 2.75 crore left to spend. Punjab Kings, the losing finalists to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the previous edition, can recruit only four players.
Cap For Overseas Players
Under a new financial regulation aimed at preventing exaggerated player earnings and helping financial stability, any winning bid for an overseas player exceeding INR 18 crore will be capped at that amount. The sum beyond that limit, to be paid by the franchise, will go to the BCCI's player welfare fund.
Potential Bidding Wars
A total of 359 players were shortlisted from an initial list of 1355 entrants, including the big names released ahead of the auction.
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green is widely expected to trigger a bidding war. Other potential sought-after players are Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, David Miller, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith etc. Besides, a few domestic uncapped players are also likely to attract significant interest.
