The IPL 2026 mini-auction in Abu Dhabi became one of the most talked-about events ahead of the new season, with all the ten teams filling their remaining 77 squad spots and collectively spending around ₹215.45 crore to strengthen their lineups. The auction showcased bold strategies, massive bids and some unexpected disappointments.
Kolkata Knight Riders stole the headlines by splashing the most money of any franchise, starting with Australian all-rounder Cameron Green who became the most expensive overseas player in the IPL history at ₹25.20 crore after a fierce bidding battle.
They didn’t stop there, also signing Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana for ₹18 crore, underscoring their aggressive approach to building a powerhouse squad.
While some franchises chased big overseas names, others focused on rising Indian talent. Chennai Super Kings made history by spending ₹14.20 crore each on uncapped Indian players Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma, making them the most expensive uncapped signings ever at an IPL auction. Their investments showed a clear belief in nurturing young domestic stars.
Other notable high bids included England’s Liam Livingstone, who went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹13 crore, and Jammu & Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi, who earned ₹8.40 crore with Delhi Capitals. Established Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for ₹7 crore and Rajasthan Royals signed leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi for ₹7.4 crore, showing a mix of experience and potential across teams.
Despite the excitement, several well-known players surprisingly went unsold in the early rounds, reflecting how teams balanced form, roles and budgets. Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan did not find buyers initially, though both were later picked up in accelerated rounds at their base prices. Other seasoned names such as Devon Conway and Jamie Smith remained without offers, highlighting the unpredictable nature of franchise demands and auction dynamics.
Here is the list of all the players who went unsold in the IPL 2026 mini-auctions:
Base Price – Rs 2 Crore:
Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith, Gerald Coetzee, Mujeeb Rahman, Maheesh Theekshana, Steve Smith, Sean Abbott, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, William Orourke, Shai Hope, Tom Curran, Daniel Lawrence, Alzarri Joseph, Naveen Ul Haq, Liam Dawson
Base Price – Rs 1.5 Crore:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson, Saqib Mahmood, Umesh Yadav, Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Ben Sears
Base Price – Rs 1.25 Crore:
Beau Webster, Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers, Olly Stone, Kyle Verreynne
Base Price – Rs 1 Crore:
Wiaan Mulder, Jonny Bairstow, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Reeza Hendricks, Daniel Sams, Kusal Perera, Mohammad Waqar Salamkheil, George Linde, Gulbadin Naib, William Sutherland, Charith Asalanka, Dwaine Pretorius, Joshua Tongue
Base Price – Rs 75 Lakhs:
Deepak Hooda, K. S. Bharat, Mayank Agarawal, Sediqullah Atal, Ackeem Auguste, Tim Robinson, Dasun Shanaka, Benjamin McDermott, Kusal Mendis, Chetan Sakariya, Qais Ahmad, Rishad Hossain, Viyaskanth Vijayakanth, Rehan Ahmed, Bevon-John Jacobs, Taskin Ahmed, Richard Gleeson, Shamar Joseph, Navdeep Saini, Muhammad Abbas, George Garton, Nathan Smith, Dunith Wellalage, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Matthew Potts, Nahid Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Wesley Agar, Binura Fernando, Md Shoriful Islam, Joshua Little, Obed McCoy, Billy Stanlake, Eathan Bosch, Chris Green, Blessing Muzarabani
Base Price – Rs 50 Lakhs:
Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Joe Clarke
Base Price – Rs 40 Lakhs:
Rajvardhan Hangargekar, KM Asif, Shubham Agrawal, Jalaj Saxena, Tom Moores, Arab Gul, Nikhil Chaudhary
Base Price – Rs 30 Lakhs:
Aarya Desai, Yash Dhull, Abhinav Manohar, Anmolpreet Singh, Atharva Taide, Abhinav Tejrana, Tanush Kotian, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Vijay Shankar, Sanvir Singh, Edhen Tom, Ruchit Ahir, Vansh Bedi, Tushar Raheja, Raj Limbani, Akash Madhwal, Simarjeet Singh, Shivam Shukla, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Wahidullah Zadran, Ankit Kumar, Rohan Kunnummal, Pukhraj Mann, Salman Nizar, Manan Vohra, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Darshan Nalkande, Sairaj Patil, Suyash Prabhudessai, Harsh Tyagi, Ricky Bhui, Rahul Buddhi, Saurav Chuahan, Yashvardhan Dalal, Abhishek Pathak, Kunal Rathore, Vidwath Kaverappa, Vijay Kumar, Vidyadhar Patil, PV.Satyanarayana Raju, Murugan Ashwin, Tejas Baroka, K.C. Cariappa, Kartik Chadha, Mohit Rathee, Himanshu Sharma, Bailapudi Yeswanth, Kunal Chandela, Ayush Doseja, Qamran Iqbal, M.Dheeraj Kumar, Bhanu Pania, Arsh Kabir Ranga, Adarsh Singh, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Raghav Goyal, Manvanth Kumar, Abid Mushtaq, Atit Sheth, Hritik Shokeen, Jagadeesha Suchith, Tanay Thyagarajann, Connor Esterhuizen, Ajitesh Guruswamy, Siddharth Joon, Bipin Saurabh, Vishnu Solanki, Hardik Tamore, Sayan Ghosh, Money Grewal, Arpit Guleria, Sunil Kumar, Tristan Luus, Divesh Sharma, Abhilash Shetty, Irfan Umair, Kuldip Yadav, Manan Bhardwaj, Shreyas Chavan, Parikshit Dhanak, Chintal Gandhi, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Saumy Pandey, Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sachin Dhas, Miles Hammond, Ahammed Imran, Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, Ayaz Khan, Daniel Lategan, Siddhant Rana, Aaron Varghese, Abdul Bazith, Karan Lal, Shams Mulani, Ripal Patel, Prince Rai, Vivrant Sharma, Utkarsh Singh, Ayush Vartak, Sanjay Yadav, Sayed Irfan Aftab, Esakkimuthu Ayyakutti, Pankaj Jaswal, Kulwant Khejroliya, Ravi Kumar, Rajan Kumar, Safvan Patel, Ishan Porel, Purav Agarwal, Jikku Bright, Yash Dicholkar, Rakibul Hasan, Traveen Mathew, Naman Pushpak, Izaz Sawariya, Roshan Wagshare, R.S Ambrish, Macneil Noronha, R Rajkumar, Ninad Rathva, Sunny Sandhu, Shivalik Sharma, Siddharth Yadav, R.Sonu Yadav, Waseem Khanday, Atif Mushtaq, Atal Rai, C.Rakshann Readdi, Manish Reddy, Nishanth Saranu, Deependra Singh, Rajat Verma, Rohit Yadav, Emanjot Chahal, Shubhang Hegde, Bal Krishna, Khilan Patel, Delano Potgieter, Hardik Raj, Parth Rekhade, Tiaan Van Vuuren, Shreevatsha Acharya, Sadek Hussain, Shubham Kapse, Aaqib Khan, Sabir Khan, Bayanda Majola, Srihari Nair, Aman Shekhawat, Himanshu Bisht, Shreyan Chakraborty, Mayank Gusain, Akash Pugazhanthi, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Shubham Rana, Arpit Rana, Maramreddy Reddy, Sagar Solanki, Aryaman Singh Dhaliwal, Vishal Mandwal, Arfaz Mohammad, Hemang Patel, Mridul Surroch, Anuj Thakral, Parth Vats, Lalit Yadav, Nitin Sai Yadav, Krish Bhagat, Prerit Dutta, Sammar Gajjar, Nasir Lone, Ishan Mulchandani, Akhil Scaria, Muhammed Sharafuddeen, K.Ajay Singh, Ritik Tada, Luckyrajsinh Vaghela, Mohamed Ali, Madhav Bajaj, Akshu Bajwa, Varun Raj Singh Bisht, Rishabh Chauhan, Dian Forrester, Dhurmil Matkar, Shiva Singh, Parikshit Valsangkar, Mani Sankar Mura Singh, Virandeep Singh, Chama Milind, K.L. Shrijith, Swastik Chikara, Rahul Raj Namala, Virat Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Tripuresh Singh, Rajesh Mohanty, Swastik Samal, Saransh Jain, Sooraj Sangaraju, Tanmay Agarwal
Overall, the IPL 2026 auction delivered thrilling bidding wars, record deals and a few sobering snubs, setting the stage for another exciting season of high-octane cricket when the tournament kicks off in March.
