New Delhi: All roads lead to Abu Dhabi as 10 franchises get ready to shape their teams and find the missing piece in the team composition puzzle at the Indian
Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini-auction on December 16, Tuesday. The 10 teams will be vying to fill the 77 slots with a cumulative purse of Rs 237.55 crore, and among them, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have the biggest say in the auction room.
Both former champions have the highest remaining purse of all the teams, with KKR leading the pack with Rs 64.30 cr, followed by CSK, who have 43.40 cr in their kitty.
With just 2.75 crore remaining purse, the Mumbai Indians (MI) can only focus on picking a few uncapped players at their base price.
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, along with out-of-favour India star Venkatesh Iyer and English dasher Liam Livingstone, is likely to attract big bidding wars between the franchises.
The fact that the franchises need to come up with targetted strategies for specific choices makes the mini-auction more intriguing than the mega auction. Players with distinct skill sets are expected to be the most in-demand set in the auction.
Every strategy depends on the remaining slots and purse, which is based on the number of players each franchise retained and released ahead of the auction. Here’s a look at how teams stack up ahead of the auction.
| Team | Purse Remaining (Rs/crore) | Total Purse (Rs/crore) | Slots remaining | Overseas slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai Indians | 2.75 | 125 | 5 | 1 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 43.40 | 125 | 9 | 4 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 64.30 | 125 | 13 | 6 |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 16.40 | 125 | 8 | 2 |
| Delhi Capitals | 21.80 | 125 | 8 | 5 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 16.05 | 125 | 9 | 1 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 25.50 | 125 | 10 | 2 |
| Punjab Kings | 11.50 | 125 | 4 | 2 |
| Gujarat Titans | 12.90 | 125 | 5 | 4 |
| Lucknow Super Giants | 22.95 | 125 | 6 | 4 |
Who needs whom?
Teams will be looking to fill specific gaps in their squads, depending on the slots, budget and requirements according to positions. The focus will mostly be on all-rounders, specialist bowling options, and top-order batters.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Chennai will look to fill the gaps created by the departures of Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Matheesha Pathirana. With the second-highest purse remaining in the auction, CSK would aim to go all out for a top-quality all-rounder like Cameron Green and Liam Livingstone. The five-time champions will also aim for a pace-bowling backup to replace Pathirana, who was released ahead of the auction. With no like-for-like replacement available for Jadeja, CSK might take a gamble on an uncapped player of similar style.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
With no Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk in the line-up, Delhi desperately needs a top-quality opening batter to partner KL Rahul. While Du Plessis opted out of the IPL, Fraser-McGurk was released by the franchise ahead of the auction. The Capitals would look to add a back-up bowler to support Mitchell Starc, who will come into the tournament on the back of a heavy workload for Australia in the Ashes.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
After trading Sherfane Rutherford to the Mumbai Indians (MI) and sweating on the return of injured Rahul Tewatia, the Gujarat Titans will be desperate to add batting depth in the middle order, especially someone who could take up the finisher’s role. Power-hitters like David Miller and Liam Livingstone fit the bill perfectly, but the Titans might face tough competition for players of this skillset. Adding a backup bowling option for Kagiso Rabada might also be in their plans.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Entering the auction with the biggest purse, Kolkata need to fill a lot of spots, including an overseas wicket-keeper batter, who could fill the spot of an opener in the absence of the released duo of Quinton de Kock and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Australia’s Josh Inglis might be a good fit for this role.
The three-time champions will also look to bring Cameron Green as a replacement for Andre Russell, who has retired from the IPL and has joined KKR’s support staff. KKR also need to bring a couple of overseas fast bowlers after releasing Anrich Nortje and Spencer Johnson.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
The Super Giants will be aiming to add firepower in the middle-order to fill the role of Miller and provide support to the Indian pair of Abdul Samad and Ayush Badoni. Signing Indian seamers might also be in their plans to provide back up to Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav, who currently recuperating from injuries. LSG might also think of replacing leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, though they have plenty of spin bowling options, including left-arm spinners Shahbaz Ahmed and Manimaran Siddharth and mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
With 5 slots and Rs 2.5 crore purse remaining, MI’s appearance in the auction will be a mere formality. MI’s squad has depth and power, but they will look to add a few Indian back-ups with a distinct skill set to provide more options to the team.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
PBKS also have almost all their bases covered but will look to add a quality spin-bowling all-rounder to replace Glenn Maxwell, who has opted out of IPL 2026. With only 11.50 cr remaining purse, PBKS might make some strategic picks to strengthen the core of the squad.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The inaugural champions made their biggest move even before the auction by bringing back Ravindra Jadeja in a trade deal. In the mini-auction, the Royals will look to buy a spinner to partner Jadeja. RR would tread carefully in the auction to fill the only vacant overseas slot. They will also be tempted to bring back local pacer Ashok Sharma, who has been making headlines in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) with 19 wickets. But RR is likely to face tough competition for the Rajasthan pacer, who was released ahead of the 2026 auction.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
The defending champions will look to sign an overseas fast bowler to provide back-up for the injured Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, who was one of the chief contributors in RCB’s title-winning campaign last season. An explosive batter to replace Liam Livingstone and a back-up for left-arm pacer Yash Dayal, who has not played any competitive cricket since IPL 2025.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
SRH will look to strengthen the spin bowling department to provide support to Zeeshan Ansari or Harsh Dubey and a fast bowler to replace Mohammed Shami, who was traded to the Super Giants. Wiaan Mulder and Abhinav Manohar were released, which would force the team to go for all-rounders and middle-order batters.
