The IPL 2026 mini auction will take place on December 16, 2025, at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, starting at 2.30 PM IST. With limited slots and uneven team purses, franchises will need to plan carefully to complete their squads.
This will be a mini auction, not a full reset. Teams will work only with the money left after retentions and trades, which makes every bid important.
Team Purses and Available Slots
Each of the ten teams has a total salary cap of ₹120 crore for the season. After retentions, the combined money available at the auction stands at ₹237.55 crore to fill 77 remaining slots.
Kolkata Knight Riders head into the auction with the biggest purse of ₹64.30 crore. They also have the most flexibility, with 13 slots open, including six for overseas players.
Chennai Super Kings have ₹43.40 crore left and need to fill nine slots, four of them overseas. Sunrisers Hyderabad follow with ₹25.50 crore and ten slots, but only two overseas options left.
Lucknow Super Giants have ₹22.95 crore for six slots, while Delhi Capitals hold ₹21.80 crore for eight slots, five of them overseas. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have ₹16.40 crore and eight slots, with two overseas spots.
Rajasthan Royals have ₹16.05 crore for nine slots but can sign only one overseas player. Gujarat Titans have ₹12.90 crore and five slots, including four overseas. Punjab Kings have ₹11.50 crore for four slots.
Mumbai Indians are the most constrained, with just ₹2.75 crore left to fill five slots, including one overseas spot.
| Team | Remaining Purse (INR) |
Total Available Slots |
Overseas Slots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | ₹64.30 crore | 13 | 6 |
| Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | ₹43.40 crore | 9 | 4 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) | ₹25.50 crore | 10 | 2 |
| Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) | ₹22.95 crore | 6 | 4 |
| Delhi Capitals (DC) | ₹21.80 crore | 8 | 5 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) | ₹16.40 crore | 8 | 2 |
| Rajasthan Royals (RR) | ₹16.05 crore | 9 | 1 |
| Gujarat Titans (GT) | ₹12.90 crore | 5 | 4 |
| Punjab Kings (PBKS) | ₹11.50 crore | 4 | 2 |
| Mumbai Indians (MI) | ₹2.75 crore | 5 | 1 |
A total of 350 players have been shortlisted for the auction, with 31 overseas slots available across teams.
Each franchise must have a minimum of 18 players and can go up to a maximum of 25. No team can have more than eight overseas players in its final squad.
The Right to Match card will not be available in this mini auction, meaning teams cannot reclaim former players once bidding is complete.
The Silent Tie-Breaker Rule in IPL Auction Explained
The IPL uses a special rule if teams are locked on a bid and have no purse left to raise it further.
In such cases, the tied teams are given a form by the BCCI to submit a sealed, secret bid in Indian Rupees. This amount is not added to the player’s salary.
The team that writes the higher secret bid wins the player at the original auction price. The extra money paid through the sealed bid goes to the BCCI’s player development program.
This rule ensures fairness while keeping the auction moving, even when teams hit their financial limits.