IPL 2026: Will this be the year of smart and sensible player auction?

Mini-auction takes place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday

A model of IPL trophy at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. AFP

The Indian Premier League player auction is a peculiar entity. Every year, the story is more or less the same – fantabulous sums of money, windfall for players on the fringe, unexpected valuations and at least one bidding war based mostly on vibes instead of merit.

The player auction was seen as the most effective way to implement free market trade and put the true value of a player next to his name. But after almost two decades of IPL, that has not been the case.

Take the last round of major auction, which took place at the end of last year in Saudi Arabia. There, Kolkata Knight Riders dumped a big chunk of their purse – almost $3 million – on Venkatesh Iyer. If you are wondering ‘Venkatesh who?’, you are not alone. Kolkata thought it was OK to let go of title-winning Shreyas Iyer, and future India captain Shubman Gill before that, and put all their money on a player who barely creates a blip on the national radar. Iyer was released by the franchise this year.

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Lucknow paid more than $3m for Rishabh Pant, even though he is not a proven leader in T20s and has a below average record with that bat in the shortest format. But that still made some sense as he is a star captain and match winner for the national team, albeit in other formats.

The IPL is littered with extravagant deals and glaring omissions. You would think that after so many years in the business, team owners would know to at least avoid obvious bad calls. But the world of IPL is a strange one.

More of the same this year? Hopefully not.

The IPL player auction for the 2026 season takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. And because it is a mini-auction – where only a limited number of players are released into the auction pool – the budgets and numbers won't make heads turn.

But there are still millions of dollars involved. Some major changes have already taken place and some big moves are expected in Abu Dhabi.

Above all, there is hope that this auction will not result in bewilderment.

Chennai Super Kings have seemingly accepted their mistake of the last auction which saw them put together a pseudo red-ball team. They sank to the bottom of the table well before the halfway mark. Chennai were out of the running so soon in the tournament, they started preparing for the next season by brining in fresh faces like Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis.

CSK seem serious about course correction. New Zealand’s dependable but uninspiring pair of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra were shown the door, while all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were traded to Rajasthan Royals.

In came Sanju Samson from the Royals – a dashing senior wicketkeeper batter who lives and breathes the T20 format and also speaks the local language well. It was a dream move by a franchise that ties its identity to that of MS Dhoni.

Caribbean powerhouse Andre Russell is no longer part of the playing group of Kolkata Knight Riders, instead joining their management. At 37, Russell was closer to the exit as a fast bowling all-rounder, but the Knight Riders have held on to him in some form; they have franchises in other leagues where he can still feature. They seem to have gone the Mumbai Indians way, where Kieron Pollard is a coach while still being a proper franchise cricketer everywhere else.

Some big names have smartly decided to opt out of the IPL altogether. Aussie all-rounder and IPL veteran Glenn Maxwell has decided to skip the IPL this time. Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and England’s Moeen Ali have also opted out of the IPL and instead play in the Pakistan Super League that will run concurrently with the IPL, just like last year.

All three players are getting closer to 40 and might not have had many takers. Better to go to PSL, which, anyhow, finishes within a month. Again, smart move.

What should help franchises make smarter decisions during the auction is the absence of any major ICC tournament in the months leading up to it. Every IPL auction, performances of the most recent ICC tournament end up influencing some key player bidding wars, even if the conditions and team dynamics are completely different. Remember Sam Curran becoming the highest-paid IPL cricketer after the 2022 T20 World Cup win in Australia?

This time, it’s different. There was no big-ticket tournament in 2025; the 50-over Champions Trophy and the T20 Asia Cup are not in the category of the T20 or the ODI World Cup.

Also, the next T20 World Cup takes place early next year, which means franchises should not get sidetracked and instead focus on what is actually needed for specific surfaces in India during the summer months.

There is also the issue of dampening of spirits in the IPL and Indian cricket ecosystem. The tragic crowd crush during the victory parade in Bengaluru, the removal of gaming sites from sponsorship deals and the subsequent reduction in advertising revenue, and the steep fall expected in the next round of broadcast deals across the cricket world are resulting in a realisation that every year can’t be bigger, better, bolder.

Maybe IPL will still get all the money in the world, but there is a fear that everything else in cricket might have to endure a budget cut.

Soon, there might be less to go around, fewer franchise leagues to earn a quick buck from, reduction in salaries, and so on.

Which is why it is important to spend every dollar wisely. Many teams have already shown good cricketing wisdom in their retentions and trades. Maybe they will show it at the auction as well.