The player auction for the 2026 IPL season will take place on Tuesday (December 16). Here are the amounts available for each team to spend.
When and where will the IPL 2026 auction take place?
This year's auction, the first mini-auction of the 2025-2027 cycle, will be on December 16. It will be held in Abu Dhabi, and will begin at 1:00pm local time (2:30pm IST).
Three hundred and fifty players have been shortlisted for the auction. The first 70 will be presented initially, before the auction moves into an accelerated round for the remaining players.
Of the 10 teams, Kolkata Knight Riders have the most available slots in their squad (13), as well as the most overseas slots (6). Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have nine slots each, and Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have eight each.
Read more: IPL 2026 auction: Five Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy standouts who could land a big payday
KKR, who were champions in 2024, also have the largest budget for the auction, with INR 64.3 crore. A large chunk of this is down to them releasing Venkatesh Iyer, who they bought for 23.75 crore last year, and Andre Russell who was retained for 12 crore ahead of the 2025 season. Russell has now retired from the IPL, and will serve as the team's power coach.
CSK (43.4 crore) are the only other team that have over 25 crore to spend. DC, Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad have over 20 crore to spend, while Mumbai Indians have just 2.75, having retained the majority of their squad.
IPL 2026 auction purse: How much budget does each team have ahead of the auction?
| Team | Auction purse (INR crore) | Total squad slots available | Overseas slots available |
| Chennai Super Kings | 43.4 | 9 | 4 |
| Delhi Capitals | 21.8 | 8 | 5 |
| Gujarat Titans | 12.9 | 5 | 4 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 64.3 | 13 | 6 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 22.95 | 6 | 4 |
| Mumbai Indians | 2.75 | 5 | 1 |
| Punjab Kings | 11.5 | 4 | 2 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 16.4 | 8 | 2 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 16.05 | 9 | 1 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 25.5 | 10 | 2 |
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