 "What each team needs at the mini-auction in Abu Dhabi – Firstpost")
The auction for the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16. With some big names released and several teams going through major changes, this auction will be important for rebuilding ahead of the new season.
Ahead of the mini-auction, let’s take a look at what each team needs to rebuild its squad for the upcoming season.
Chennai Super Kings
Purse left: Rs 43.40 crore
Slots remaining: 9 (4 overseas)
Players retained: MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj
Major gaps: After
trading their star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, CSK are expected to keep an eye on players who can perform both roles for the team. They will also look to procure overseas fast bowlers, having released Matheesha Pathirana into the auction pool. However, given CSK’s history, they might also try and get Pathirana back at a lower price.
Delhi Capitals
Purse left: Rs 21.80 crore
Slots remaining: 8 (5 overseas)
Players retained: Nitish Rana (traded in from RR), Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh Kumar
Major gaps: Delhi Capitals may look to target fast bowlers in the auction to keep their backups ready for some of the players who might not play the full season. They will also need an opener after Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk were released. An all-rounder and overseas middle-order batter may also be on DC’s wishlist for the auction.
Gujarat Titans
Purse left: Rs 12.90 crore
Slots remaining: 5 (4 overseas)
Players retained: Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, B Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar
Major gaps: GT have their top order set in Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler, and Sai Kishore, but they may need a finisher because their current middle order is out of form. The Ahmedabad-based franchise might also target overseas bowlers after they released Gerald Coetzee and Karim Janat. However, GT are unlikely to tinker too much as they don’t have a substantial purse left.
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Kolkata Knight Riders
Purse left: Rs 64.30 crore
Slots remaining: 13 (6 overseas)
Players retained: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy
Major gaps: KKR have many roles to fill at the auction, and they also have the money to do so. The team needs an opener to partner with Sunil Narine, if he continues at the top, along with middle-order batters, all-rounders, and finishers. KKR have released their biggest star, Andre Russell, and will need someone equally talented to fill his shoes. They will also need a wicketkeeper to replace Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Lucknow Super Giants
Purse left: Rs 22.95 crore
Slots remaining: 6 (4 overseas)
Players retained: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar (traded in from MI), Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami (traded in from SRH), Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz Ahmed
Major gaps: LSG’s biggest concern will be to find a replacement for Ravi Bishnoi after the franchise let go the spinner before the auction. Bishnoi was LSG’s primary spinner for the past few seasons, but his release has created a huge gap in the team. They also need an overseas batter to replace David Miller, who plays as a finisher. LSG also need Indian and overseas fast bowlers to strengthen their attack, even though they have Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav.
Mumbai Indians
Purse left: Rs 2.75 crore
Slots remaining: 5 (1 overseas)
Players retained: Shardul Thakur (traded in from LSG), Sherfane Rutherford (traded in from GT), Mayank Markande (traded in from KKR), AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will Jacks
Major gaps: Forget major, MI do not have even minor gaps right now in their squad. They have solid playing XI options and back-ups as well. Though, they would like a gun overseas opener as a back-up to Ryan Rickelton. Due to low purse they will rely on lesser known Indian domestic players.
Punjab Kings
Purse left: Rs 11.5 crore
Slots remaining: 4 (2 overseas)
Players retained: Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal
Major gaps: The 2025 runners-up would want a like-for-like replacement for Josh Inglis to bat at number three and score quickly. Apart from that, the playing XI looks settled. In the absence of Glenn Maxwell, they also lack an off-spinner. A leg-spin back-up for Yuzvendra Chahal is also needed.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Purse left: Rs 16.4 crore
Slots remaining: 8 (2 overseas)
Players retained: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh
Major gaps: While RCB’s playing XI looks solid, they do need a few back-ups. There is a lack of quality domestic batting depth in their squad. A back-up to Suyash Sharma or even an upgrade on him could be a point of interest. Josh Hazlewood’s ailing body might also push them to look for one gun overseas pacer.
Rajasthan Royals
Purse left: Rs 16.05 crore
Slots remaining: 9 (1 overseas)
Players retained: Donovan Ferreira (traded in from DC), Ravindra Jadeja (traded in from CSK), Sam Curran (traded in from CSK), Dhruv Jurel, Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Singh Charak
Major gaps: RR do not have spin options apart from Ravindra Jadeja in their squad so they would try to get a local name. They would also want a domestic all-rounder who would balance their squad as they have struggled with that in recent years. They also released some domestic pace-bowling options and would go hunting for some of them as well. Unfortunately for them, they can only buy one overseas player and do not have a sizeable purse in hand.
SunRisers Hyderabad
Purse left: Rs 25.5 crore
Slots remaining: 10 (2 overseas)
Players retained: Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, R Smaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari
Major gaps: SRH have a gun top six but lack a destructive number seven and that is what they would go for in the auction. Pat Cummins will also be in need for a new new ball partner as SRH have traded away Mohammed Shami. They would also have to shop for some quality back-ups both in batting and bowling as their overall squad looks very thin outside the star players.
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