Divine intervention has finally arrived, and the players’ list for the IPL 2026 auction is now out. From a staggering number of 1,390 players who enrolled their names, only 350 have been able to get onto the final shortlist. Out of these, the players will be auctioned in Abu Dhabi on December 16, starting at 1 PM UAE time (2:30 PM IST).
BCCI auction list for IPL 2026
The complete list comprises 240 Indian players and 110 foreign players. Out of them, 224 players are uncapped Indian who has never played for India and 14 foreigners are also uncapped. This brings a lot of new and exciting talent into the auction pool this year.
Most importantly, all the ten franchises will contest for the 77 vacant spots in the squad, of which 31 are for foreign players. The top base price of ₹2 crore remains unaltered, and 40 players have opted to go under the hammer at this highest reserve price.
35 new players added in the IPL auction 2026 list
Interestingly, the BCCI initially sent out a longer list of 1,355 names to the franchises, asking them to select the players they wanted in the final pool. Based on their input, the list was cut down and 35 new names added, the players who were not part of the previous list.
One of the surprise inclusions is Quinton de Kock, the wicketkeeper-batsman from South Africa. He was not on the first list but a franchise asked for his inclusion. Recently returned from retirement, he made a mark with a century against India, which could be helping him in this auction. His price this year is set at ₹1 crore, which is half of what it was in the last mega auction. After a lackluster season, KKR let him go.
A handful of Sri Lankan cricketers including Kusal Perera, Binura Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, and Traveen Mathew are also listed among the newcomers.
The auction will start off with capped players classified according to their positions and then the uncapped players will come in. Top players like Cameron Green, Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan, and David Miller will be the initial names on the list.
Once the first 70 players are shown, the auction will switch to “accelerated” phase aimed at catching up with the remaining players.