The IPL 2026 mini-auction concluded on December 16. Here's a look at what the best playing XIs could look like for each of the 10 teams when the tournament starts.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Players bought at the auction: Venkatesh Iyer, Jordan Cox, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Jacob Duffy, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav.
The defending champions made two big buys – India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (7 cr) and uncapped left-arm Indian quick Mangesh Yadav (5.2 cr). The rest of their acquisitions were aimed at filling up backup slots in the squad, most of whom they had retained from the previous season.
Their starting lineup may look almost exactly like last season's, except for perhaps Iyer replacing Devdutt Padikkal at No.3. Iyer also belongs to the same state team as RCB captain Rajat Patidar, who bats at four, making it a potentially strong partnership. On the bowling front, Yash Dayal may miss out due to non-cricketing reasons: Mangesh may fill in as a like-for-like replacement with his left-arm angle.
Potential starting XII
Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar (c), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Yash Dayal/Rasikh Dar/Mangesh Yadav.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Devdutt Padikkal | Abhinandan Singh | *Jacob Bethell |
Jitesh Sharma (wk) | Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Krunal Pandya |
*Phil Salt (wk) | *Josh Hazlewood | *Romario Shepherd |
Rajat Patidar | *Nuwan Thushara | Swapnil Singh |
*Tim David | Rasikh Dar | Venkatesh Iyer |
Virat Kohli | Suyash Sharma | Satvik Deswal |
*Jordan Cox | Yash Dayal | Mangesh Yadav |
| Vihaan Malhotra | *Jacob Duffy | Kanishk Chouhan |
Vicky Ostwal |
Chennai Super Kings
Players bought at the auction: Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Matt Short, Zak Foulkes, Rahul Chahar, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma.
CSK went big on two uncapped players, Prashant Veer (14.2 cr) and Kartik Sharma (14.2), continuing with their trend from last season of infusing the team with young talent. They also roped in Akeal Hosein as a potential like-for-like replacement for Ravindra Jadeja.
However, there's at least one iffy spot in their middle order that they'd hope one of the younger Indian players to fill. Veer, who belongs to the same profile as Jadeja, can solve a lot of problems for CSK if he holds his own, especially with the ball. It will allow CSK to field an overseas batter like Matt Short in place of a specialist spinner in Akeal at No.8, adding both batting and bowling depth to the lineup.
Potential starting XII
Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Matt Short, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, MS Dhoni (wk), Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
MS Dhoni (wk) | Anshul Kamboj | *Jamie Overton |
Sanju Samson (T) (wk) | Gurjapneet Singh | Ramakrishna Ghosh |
Ruturaj Gaikwad | Mukesh Choudhary | Shivam Dube |
Ayush Mhatre | *Nathan Ellis | Shreyas Gopal |
*Dewald Brevis | *Noor Ahmad | *Akeal Hosein |
Urvil Patel (wk) | Khaleel Ahmed | Prashant Veer |
Kartik Sharma (wk) | *Matt Henry | Aman Khan |
*Matthew Short | Rahul Chahar | |
Sarfaraz Khan | *Zak Foulkes |
Mumbai Indians
Players bought at the auction: Quinton de Kock, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat, Danish Malewar, Mohammad Izhar.
Mumbai Indians went into the auction with the smallest purse, that of only 2.75 cr, but managed to buy five players including South Africa star Quinton de Kock. They can very well start their season without making any changes to their starting lineup from IPL 2025.
The two main choices they would have to make are between de Kock and his South African teammate Ryan Rickelton at the top, and Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur for the seam-bowling all-rounder's spot. The rest of the XII picks itself.
Potential starting XII
Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton/Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar/Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Robin Minz (wk) | *Allah Ghazanfar | *Corbin Bosch |
Rohit Sharma | Ashwani Kumar | Hardik Pandya |
Ryan Rickelton (wk) | Deepak Chahar | *Mitchell Santner |
*Sherfane Rutherford | Jasprit Bumrah | Naman Dhir |
Suryakumar Yadav | Mayank Markande (T) | Raj Angad Bawa |
Tilak Varma | Raghu Sharma | *Will Jacks |
*Quinton de Kock | Shardul Thakur (T) | Atharva Ankolekar |
Danish Malewar | *Trent Boult | Mayank Rawat |
Mohammad Izhar |
Punjab Kings
Players bought at the auction: Ben Dwarshuis, Cooper Connolly, Pravin Dubey, Vishal Nishad.
Punjab made only four picks at the auction table, and there's a good chance of none of them starting the season. The 2025 finalists have a lot of all-round options in their squad, which should give them both batting and bowling depth. Marco Jansen's improving batting form would bode well for them as well.
The Indian all-rounder at No.7 (or 8) and the fourth overseas player after Marcus Stoinis, Jansen, and Lockie Ferguson will be the two major selection calls they'll have to make.
Potential starting XII
Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Suryansh Shedge/Harpreet Brar, Xavier Bartlett/Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Harnoor Singh Pannu | Arshdeep Singh | *Azmatullah Omarzai |
Nehal Wadhera | *Lockie Ferguson | Harpreet Brar |
Prabhsimran Singh (wk) | Vyshak Vijaykumar | *Marco Jansen |
Priyansh Arya | *Xavier Bartlett | *Marcus Stoinis |
Pyla Avinash | Yash Thakur | *Mitchell Owen |
Shashank Singh | Yuzvendra Chahal | Musheer Khan |
Shreyas Iyer | *Ben Dwarshuis | Suryansh Shedge |
Vishnu Vinod (wk) | *Cooper Connolly | |
Pravin Dubey | ||
Vishal Nishad |
Kolkata Knight Riders
Players bought at the auction: Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Finn Allen, Rahul Tripathi, Kartik Tyagi, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Prashant Solanki, Mustafizur Rahman, Akash Deep, Tim Seifert, Tejasvi Singh.
KKR entered the auction with almost half their starting lineup to fill. They used the advantage of their hefty purse to good effect, getting Cameron Green (25.2 cr) and Matheesha Pathirana (18 cr) at exorbitant prices.
While they were able to build a strong squad, some of their bases aren't foolproof. With Andre Russell gone, the finishing responsibilities fall on Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh, but beyond them, KKR don't have reliable lower-order hitters. Rovman Powell can come in if required, but the four overseas slots would be taken by Sunil Narine, a wicketkeeper-opener (Finn Allen or Tim Seifert), Green, and one of Mustafizur and Pathirana.
Potential starting XII
Sunil Narine, Finn Allen/Tim Seifert, Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Matheesha Pathirana/Mustafizur Rahman, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Ajinkya Rahane | Harshit Rana | Anukul Roy |
Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Umran Malik | Ramandeep Singh |
Manish Pandey | Vaibhav Arora | *Sunil Narine |
Rinku Singh | Varun Chakravarthy | *Cameron Green |
*Rovman Powell | *Matheesha Pathirana | Sarthak Ranjan |
*Finn Allen | Kartik Tyagi | Daksh Kamra |
Tejasvi Singh | Prashant Solanki | *Rachin Ravindra |
Rahul Tripathi | *Mustafizur Rahman | |
*Tim Seifert | Akash Deep |
Delhi Capitals
Players bought at the auction: David Miller, Ben Duckett, Pathum Nissanka, Prithvi Shaw, Auqib Nabi Dar, Kyle Jamieson, Sahil Parakh.
Delhi Capitals have built one of the strongest squads on paper. They bought three potential opening options in the form of Duckett, Nissanka, and Shaw, a finisher in Miller, and two seam-bowling all-rounders in Jamieson and Auqib.
In Dushmantha Chameera, they have a backup overseas quick, and their spin bowling boasts of variety. If Shaw is considered ready to start and KL Rahul continues in the middle order, all three of Duckett, Nissanka, and Miller could sit out, making it one of the strongest batting benches in the season.
Potential starting XII
Prithvi Shaw, Abishek Porel (wk), Nitish Rana, KL Rahul, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma/David Miller, Axar Patel (c), Vipraj Nigam, Kyle Jamieson, Auqib Nabi Dar, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Abishek Porel (wk) | *Dushmantha Chameera | Ajay Mandal |
Ashutosh Sharma | Kuldeep Yadav | Axar Patel |
Karun Nair | *Mitchell Starc | Madhav Tiwari |
KL Rahul (wk) | Mukesh Kumar | Vipraj Nigam |
Nitish Rana (T) | T. Natarajan | |
Sameer Rizvi | Tripurana Vijay | |
*Tristan Stubbs | Auqib Nabi | |
*David Miller | *Kyle Jamieson | |
*Ben Duckett | ||
*Pathum Nissanka | ||
Sahil Parakh | ||
Prithvi Shaw |
Rajasthan Royals
Players bought at the auction: Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Brijesh Sharma, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen.
Rajasthan have one of the most lopsided squads this season, with an excessive number of bowlers and not enough reliable middle-order batters. Their most significant buy at the auction was Ravi Bishnoi at 7.2 cr. The leggie will partner the traded-in Ravindra Jadeja to form the primary spin-duo.
A lot will rest on Jadeja's batting given the structure of the RR squad. He'll most likely bat at No.7, below Hetmyer and Curran, and will have an unproven Shubham Dubey to follow. Their overseas fast bowlers, though high quality, are also injury prone.
Potential starting XII
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sam Curran, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Dhruv Jurel (wk) | *Jofra Archer | *Donovan Ferreira (T) |
*Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk) | *Kwena Maphaka | Ravindra Jadeja (T) |
*Shimron Hetmyer | *Nandre Burger | Riyan Parag |
Shubham Dubey | Sandeep Sharma | *Sam Curran (T) |
Vaibhav Suryavanshi | Tushar Deshpande | |
Yashasvi Jaiswal | Yudhvir Singh Charak | |
Ravi Singh* | Ravi Bishnoi | |
Aman Rao | Sushant Mishra | |
Yash Raj Punja | ||
Vignesh Puthur | ||
Brijesh Sharma | ||
*Adam Milne | ||
Kuldeep Sen |
Lucknow Super Giants
Players bought at the auction: Wanindu Hasaranga, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis, Anrich Nortje, Naman Tiwari.
Lucknow Super Giants got three international stars in Hasaranga, Nortje, and Inglis, and three uncapped Indians. They continue to have a very top-heavy batting lineup filled with international superstars, which tails off in the middle. Based on their squad composition, their 5-6-7 could all end up being Indian domestic cricketers, making it a bit of weak spot for them.
Like Rajasthan, their pace bowling attack is extremely injury prone, which can add to their troubles.
Potential starting XII
Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Digvesh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan/Mohsin Khan.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Abdul Samad | Akash Singh | *Aiden Markram |
Himmat Singh | Arjun Tendulkar (T) | Arshin Kulkarni |
*Matthew Breetzke | Avesh Khan | Ayush Badoni |
*Nicholas Pooran (wk) | Digvesh Rathi | *Mitchell Marsh |
Rishabh Pant (wk) | M Siddharth | Shahbaz Ahmed |
Mukul Choudhary (wk) | Mayank Yadav | *Wanindu Hasaranga |
Akshat Raghuwanshi | Mohammed Shami (T) | |
*Josh Inglis (wk) | Mohsin Khan | |
Prince Yadav | ||
*Anrich Nortje | ||
Naman Tiwari |
Gujarat Titans
Players bought at the auction: Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Ashok Sharma, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Luke Wood.
Gujarat Titans have a very thin middle order which could become a problem if their revered top three does not fire. They bought all-rounder Holder for 7 cr, but the only way they can play him in the XI is if they don't pick Glenn Phillips in the middle order. And if they don't pick Phillips, they'll be left with Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, and Rahul Tewatia as their potential 4-5-6.
Fortunately, Gujarat have a strong bowling attack led by Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan, with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna for support.
Potential starting XII
Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Anuj Rawat (wk) | Gurnoor Brar | *Glenn Phillips |
*Jos Buttler (wk) | Ishant Sharma | Jayant Yadav |
Kumar Kushagra (wk) | *Kagiso Rabada | Manav Suthar |
Sai Sudharsan | Mohammed Siraj | Nishant Sindhu |
Shubman Gill | Arshad Khan | Rahul Tewatia |
| *Tom Banton | Prasidh Krishna | Shahrukh Khan |
| Shahrukh Khan | Sai Kishore | Washington Sundar |
*Rashid Khan | *Jason Holder | |
Ashok Sharma | ||
Prithvi Raj Yarra | ||
*Luke Wood |
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Players bought at the auction: Liam Livingstone, Shivang Kumar, Salil Arora, Sakib Hassan, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Krains Fuletra, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards.
Livingstone was SRH's marquee buy of the auction. The crux of their famed explosive batting lineup remains the same. In fact, Livingstone's addition has only bolstered it. Question marks over the effectiveness of their bowling remains, with seam bowlers who have the reputation to blow hot and cold. They have a relatively inexperienced spin-attack as well, which should be led by Ranji Trophy record-holder Harsh Dubey.
Potential starting XII
Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Pat Cummins (c), Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat/Shivam Mavi, Zeeshan Ansari.
Full squad
Batters | Bowlers | All-rounders |
Aniket Verma | *Brydon Carse | Abhishek Sharma |
*Heinrich Klaasen (wk) | *Eshan Malinga | Harsh Dubey |
Ishan Kishan (wk) | Harshal Patel | *Kamindu Mendis |
Smaran Ravichandran | Jaydev Unadkat | Nitish Kumar Reddy |
*Travis Head | *Pat Cummins | Shivang Kumar |
Salil Arora (wk) | Zeeshan Ansari | Krains Fuletra |
Sakib Hassan | *Liam Livingstone | |
Onkar Tarmale | Shivam Mavi | |
Amit Kumar | *Jack Edwards | |
Praful Hinge |
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