New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) The spotlight will be on the likes of Cameron Green, Liam Livingstone and Ravi Bishnoi as ten franchises gear up for the IPL 2026 auction, set to take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. It will mark the third straight time of an IPL auction happening outside India after Dubai (2024) and Jeddah (2025).

All ten teams are expected to loosen their purse strings in pursuit of marquee talent and have a squad which can win the IPL 2026 trophy. A total of 77 slots are available, including 31 for overseas players. Three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have the most vacancies with 13, followed by 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with ten.

From a longlist of 1,355 players, 359 have been shortlisted – 244 Indian and 115 overseas. Forty players have entered at the maximum base price of Rs 2 crore, with Bishnoi and Venkatesh Iyer the only Indians in that group.

Green, Australia’s seam-bowling all-rounder, is expected to be the biggest draw, thanks to the skewed demand-supply ratio in a mini IPL auction, with bids for him projected to cross Rs 25 crore.

Apart from Bishnoi and Green, the England duo of Liam Livingstone and Jamie Smith, along with NZ pacer Matt Henry, keeper-batter Tim Seifert and South Africa batter David Miller, are also likely to attract strong interest from all ten teams, as is Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who was let go of by Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

KKR head into the auction with the largest purse at Rs 64.30 crore, while five-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have Rs 43.40 crore, with both teams eyeing to rebuild their squads after a poor IPL 2025 season.

In contrast, five-time winners Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings might have quiet auctions due to their purses of Rs 2.75 crore and Rs 11.5 crore, respectively.

What remains certain is that no overseas player can earn more than Rs 18 crore, regardless of the winning bid. Under the IPL’s “maximum-fee” rule, the cap is fixed at the lower of the highest retention slab – Rs 18 crore – or the top price from the previous mega auction, which was Rs 27 crore for India wicketkeeper-batter and Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant.

Among the uncapped names, Jammu & Kashmir’s seam-bowling all-rounder Auqib Nabi and Rajasthan pacer Ashok Sharma have drawn interest from coaches and scouts who have been seeing all games of state-run T20 leagues and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Uttar Pradesh’s all-rounder Prashant Veer, Rajasthan wicketkeeper-batter Kartik Sharma and Kerala’s left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur, who featured for Mumbai Indians last season before a shin injury cut short his stint, are also on the radar of all ten teams.

The auction will move into an accelerated round after the first 70 players are presented, with franchises then nominating unsold names for further bidding. As this is a mini-auction, the Right to Match (RTM) card will not be available to teams.

–IANS

nr/bc