The 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction will have just 350 players following the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) removed 1 005 players from the initial longlist. In a significant move the BCCI has been able to add 35 additional players–including a number of foreign and Indian cricketers who were not been registered at first but later were added upon request by IPL franchises.
De Kock Added After Franchise Request
An article from Cricbuzz has confirmed that Quinton De Kock who is one of the South African wicketkeeper-batter. Has been added to the auction pool after an explicit request by an organization. De Kock, who recently returned to international cricket and scored a century, was astonished by his performance in the third ODI against India at the 3rd ODI in Visakhapatnam. This performance that is believed to be the reason he chose to join an IPL auction.
To be eligible for IPL 2026 De Kock has set his base price of Rs1 crore which is an 50% decrease from the auction in 2022 which saw him bought from the Kolkata Knight Riders for his base price of Rs2 crore.
Other Overseas Additions
Alongside De Kock, several other international cricketers have recently been added to the list of finalists. This includes:
- Sri Lanka: Traveen Mathew, Binura Fernando, Kusal Perera, Dunith Wellalage
- Afghanistan: Arab Gul
- West Indies: Akeem Auguste
- England: Miles Hammond, Dan Lategan
- South Africa: Connor Eztherhuizen, George Linde, Bayanda Majola
A lot of these players will be participating in the IPL auction, for first time for the very first time..
New Domestic Entries
On the national front there is a new group of Indian players–who were not in the original report–have been included. They include:
Sadek Hussain, Vishnu Solanki, Sabir Khan, Brijesh Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Aaron George, Jikku Bright, Srihari Nair, Madhav Bajaj, Shreevathsa Acharya, Yashraj Punja, Sahil Parakh, Roshan Waghsare, Yash Dicholkar, Ayaz Khan, Dhurmil Matkar, Naman Pushpak, Parikshit Valsangkar, Purav Agarwal, Rishabh Chouhan, Sagar Solanki, Izaz Sawariya, and Aman Shekawat.
Auction Schedule and Format
In a letter sent to franchises In its letter to franchisees, BCCI announced that it will be holding the 2026 IPL auction will start at 1 pm UAE time (2:30 pm (IST)) on Tuesday 16th December in the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The bidding process begins with a full round of cap players and will be and will be presented in the order:
- Batters
- All-rounders
- Wicketkeeper-batters
- Fast bowlers
- Spin bowlers
The same process is repeated for players who are not capped.
Accelerated Auction Process
The BCCI also explained the speedy process for future rounds. In the memo:
- The first round of accelerated play will be played by players with numbers from 71 to 350.
- When these names are announced the franchises will be required to choose unpresented and un-sold gamers from the entire list of 350 players to be considered for additional round accélérated.
This method allows teams to review names they might be interested in, without prolonging the auction in a way that is unnecessary.
Final Additions in the List
Overseas Additions:
Arab Gul (Afghanistan), Miles Hammond (England), Dan Lategan (England), Quinton de Kock (South Africa), Connor Eztherhuizen (South Africa), George Linde (South Africa), Bayanda Majola (South Africa), Traveen Mathew (Sri Lanka), Binura Fernando (Sri Lanka), Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka), Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka), Akeem Auguste (West Indies)
Indian Additions:
Sadek Hussain, Vishnu Solanki, Sabir Khan, Brijesh Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Aaron George, Jikku Bright, Srihari Nair, Madhav Bajaj, Shreevathsa Acharya, Yashraj Punja, Sahil Parakh, Roshan Waghsare, Yash Dicholkar, Ayaz Khan, Dhurmil Matkar, Naman Pushpak, Parikshit Valsangkar, Purav Agarwal, Rishabh Chouhan, Sagar Solanki, Izaz Sawariya, Aman Shekawat
The reduced list and the new additions are sure to be an exciting and exciting auction and franchises are sharpening their strategies prior to the auction on December 16.