The 2026 season of the IPL will see mini-auctions taking place as the franchises look to build their squads for the next year. Meanwhile, the date and venue for the auction have been announced.
The Indian Premier League 2026 auction date and venue have been confirmed. The upcoming mini auction for the next season of the tournament will take place on December 16 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
“The IPL Player Auction will take place on 16th December at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi,” the IPL said in a statement on Saturday.
The auction date and venue were announced on the retention deadline day on November 15. All 10 teams confirmed their retentions ahead of the auctions as they look to build their squad for the next season.
Chennai Super Kings released or traded the most number of players as they parted ways with 11 players, while their fellow five-time champions Mumbai Indians were second with eight releases. Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans released the fewest number of players with five releases each.
Among the big releases (apart from the traded ones) were Punjab Kings parting ways with Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell, Kolkata Knight Riders dropping Andre Russell and Chennai Super Kings removing Matheesha Pathirana.
Defending IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru released six players – Liam Livingstone, Lungi Ngidi, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Bhandage, Mohit Rathee and Swastik Chikara.
Kolkata Knight Riders will enter the IPL auction with the biggest purse as they have Rs 64.3 crore in their bag to fill a maximum of 13 slots with six overseas spots available. Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings will have the second-biggest kitty of ₹43.4 crore to fill a maximum of nine available slots.
Chennai Super Kings were the busiest ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. Even before the retention deadline on November 15, the five-time champions were in action as they traded in Sanju Samson for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.
The Super Kings have released 11 players as they look to build their squad for the 2026 season, mainly from a clean slate. With Samson traded in, there were a few options CSK could have gone with as far as captaincy is concerned.