The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled Abu Dhabi as its preferred location to host the IPL 2026 mini-auction. December 16, 2025 is the scheduled date for this auction as teams enter another season to jostle for franchise cricket’s most-prestigious title.
Where is the IPL 2026 Auction Venue in Abu Dhabi?
The official BCCI announcement lists the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi as the location to host next season’s headline event.
Where Did the Last 10 IPL Auctions Take Place?
IPL auctions over the last decade held across Indian cities on most occasions. Bengaluru hosted the most IPL auctions within the period, after headlining 4 out of 10 editions so far. Other cities in India like Jaipur, Chennai, Kochi, and Kolkata have hosted at least 1 IPL auction since 2016.
| Year | Auction Type | Host City | Country |
| 2016 | Regular | Bengaluru | India |
| 2017 | Regular | Bengaluru | India |
| 2018 | Mega | Bengaluru | India |
| 2019 | Regular | Jaipur | India |
| 2020 | Regular | Kolkata | India |
| 2021 | Regular | Chennai | India |
| 2022 | Mega | Bengaluru | India |
| 2023 | Mini | Kochi | India |
| 2024 | Mini | Dubai | UAE |
| 2025 | Mega | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia |
The decision to host IPL auctions in foreign countries became mainstream from 2024. IPL auctions have held in Dubai, UAE and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Abu Dhabi hosting the 2026 edition means Kochi (2023) is India’s most-recent host location for IPL auction.
Available Player Slots and Remaining Purse Amount for Each Franchise
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have more player slots available and a fatter auction purse heading into next season’s auction. KKR’s executives and coaching staff decided to let several players leave the franchise after last season and now have 19 open slots to fill. See the full player slots for all teams heading into auction sessions on December 16.
| Team | No. of players | Available slots | Overseas slots | Purse left (INR) |
| KKR | 12 | 13 | 6 | ₹64.3 crore |
| CSK | 16 | 9 | 4 | ₹43.4 crore |
| SRH | 15 | 10 | 2 | ₹25.5 crore |
| LSG | 19 | 6 | 4 | ₹22.95 crore |
| DC | 17 | 8 | 5 | ₹21.8 crore |
| RCB | 17 | 8 | 2 | ₹16.4 crore |
| RR | 16 | 9 | 1 | ₹16.05 crore |
| GT | 20 | 5 | 4 | ₹12.9 crore |
| PBKS | 21 | 4 | 2 | ₹11.5 crore |
| MI | 20 | 5 | 1 | ₹2.75 crore |
Full List of Players Traded before IPL 2026 Auction
Several IPL franchises decided to exercise their player trade rights ahead of next season’s auction. Ten (10) major player trades between franchises cost over $6 million in total and saw unexpected switches across teams. These players will likely trigger bidding wars at auction, and interested franchises decided to get them out of the market before auctions begin.
| Player | Nationality | Salary | From | To |
| Donovan Ferreira | South Africa | ₹1 crore (US$120,000) | Delhi Capitals | Rajasthan Royals |
| Mohammed Shami | India | ₹10 crore (US$1.2 m) | Sunrisers Hyderabad | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | ₹14 crore (US$1.7 m) | Chennai Super Kings | Rajasthan Royals |
| Sanju Samson | India | ₹18 crore (US$2.1 m) | Rajasthan Royals | Chennai Super Kings |
| Shardul Thakur | India | ₹2 crore (US$240,000) | Lucknow Super Giants | Mumbai Indians |
| Sam Curran | England | ₹2.4 crore (US$280,000) | Chennai Super Kings | Rajasthan Royals |
| Sherfane Rutherford | West Indies | ₹2.6 crore (US$310,000) | Gujarat Titans | Mumbai Indians |
| Mayank Markande | India | ₹30 lakh (US$35,000) | Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai Indians |
| Arjun Tendulkar | India | ₹30 lakh (US$35,000) | Mumbai Indians | Lucknow Super Giants |
| Nitish Rana | India | ₹4.2 crore (US$500,000) | Rajasthan Royals | Delhi Capitals |
The highlight of this trade season involved the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals.
CSK decided to trade Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran for the services of former RR wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson. The swap sees Samson retain his high price tag of ₹18 crore for the Chepauk move while Ravindra Jadeja takes a ₹4 crore pay cut.
Full List of Released Players per Franchise Ahead of IPL 2026 Auction
1. Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Andre Siddarth, Deepak Hooda, Devon Conway, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Sam Curran, Shaik Rasheed, Vansh Bedi, Vijay Shankar
2. Delhi Capitals (DC)
Darshan Nalkande, Faf du Plessis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Manvanth Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sediqullah Atal
3. Gujarat Titans (GT)
Dasun Shanaka, Gerald Coetzee, Karim Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Mahipal Lomror
4. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Andre Russell, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia, Moeen Ali, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson, Venkatesh Iyer
5. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Akash Deep, Aryan Juyal, David Miller, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravi Bishnoi, Shamar Joseph, Yuvraj Chaudhary
6. Mumbai Indians (MI)
Bevan John Jacobs, Karn Sharma, Lizaad Williams, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, V. Satyanarayana Penmetsa, Vignesh Puthur
7. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Kuldeep Sen, Praveen Dubey
8. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Akash Madhwal, Ashok Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Kunal Rathore, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga
9. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Liam Livingstone, Lungisani Ngidi, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Agarwal, Mohit Rathee, Swastik Chhikara
10. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Abhinav Manohar, Adam Zampa, Atharva Taide, Rahul Chahar, Sachin Baby, Simarjeet Singh, Wiaan Mulder
