The Indian Premier League 2026 final auction was released on December 9, with 350 players set to go under the hammer. Here are five big names that won’t be part of the auction.
5 big names missing from IPL 2026 auction list
David Warner
One of only four players to have scored over 6,000 runs in the IPL, Warner has also won the most Orange Caps (three). However, he hasn’t registered himself for the IPL 2026 auction after going unsold in the 2025 edition. He played every season from 2009 to 2024, except in 2018 when he was serving a one-year ban from Cricket Australia for ball tampering. He captained Sunrisers Hyderabad to their only title in 2016.
Kane Williamson
Williamson is another top name not part of the IPL 2026 auction list. The New Zealand star captained SRH in 2018 in Warner’s absence and led them to the final, while also winning the Orange Cap. He played at least one game every season from 2015 to 2024 before going unsold in the 2025 mega auction. He was part of the SRH squad that won IPL 2016.
Faf du Plessis
The former South African captain announced that he won’t be registering himself for the IPL 2026 auction and will instead play the Pakistan Super League. Among overseas batters, only Warner, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle have scored more runs than him in IPL history. He won the IPL twice with the Chennai Super Kings, in 2019 and 2021, giving a Player of the Match performance in the 2021 final. He played the 2025 season for Delhi Capitals, also captaining them in two games, before being released.
Glenn Maxwell
After two rather poor seasons with the bat, Maxwell chose against registering himself for the IPL 2026 auction. Having first played in the tournament back in 2012, he featured in every edition until 2025, except in 2019. He was the 2013 auction’s costliest buy as the Mumbai Indians shelled out US$1 million to sign him: he also won the IPL title with them that season. After 141 appearances in 13 seasons, however, he will not go under the hammer this time.
Moeen Ali
Like his former CSK teammate du Plessis, Moeen will feature in the PSL instead of the IPL this time. The English all-rounder won two IPL titles with CSK, in 2021 and 2023, and featured in every edition from 2018 to 2025. Bought for his base price of INR 2 crore by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the mega auction last year, he had only six wickets and six runs in six appearances, and was subsequently released.
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