Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction for the 2026 season will be staged in Abu Dhabi on December 16, with the Etihad Arena likely as the host venue.
The announcement was made by the BCCI on social media after franchises closed their retention windows on November 15. It brings the IPL’s player market to the UAE capital for the first time.
The decision follows a period of intensified logistical planning by the BCCI and comes after franchises finalised their retained and released lists. A total of 173 players were retained by the 10 IPL franchises, leaving roughly 77 slots to be filled at the day-long mini-auction on December 16 – a development that promises a busy auction table and substantial purse opportunities for teams carrying larger remaining budgets.
The 2026 auction will mark the second occasion in recent seasons that the IPL’s high-profile auction has taken place outside India. The previous overseas auction was held at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai in December 2023 – an event widely reported at the time and attended by owners, coaches and leading players as the IPL experimented with staging marquee operations in the Gulf. That Dubai staging is widely regarded as the precedent for the decision to relocate this year’s player market to the UAE.
Some Big Names in the Mix
Franchise retention decisions over the past week have produced a substantial pool of notable names likely to attract intense bidding in Abu Dhabi. Several high-profile internationals and Indian stars were released or made available by their clubs and are expected to be among the most eyeball-grabbing items under the hammer:
• Andre Russell – the Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder, a perennial power-player in the auction circuit, was among the surprising names released.
• Venkatesh Iyer – released by KKR after a multi-crore contract; his availability is expected to trigger significant interest.
• Matheesha Pathirana – Chennai Super Kings’ decision to let the Sri Lankan quick go has put one of the tournament’s premier young fast bowlers into the auction pool.
• Ravi Bishnoi – the India leg-spinner, released by Lucknow Super Giants, will be a valuable commodity given the premium on quality wrist spin.
• Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, and other established internationals – several big-name finishers and middle-order options have been listed as released and will almost certainly attract bids from multiple franchises.
The make-up of the pool – a mix of explosive finishers, seam options and wrist-spin variations – should make for an aggressive and unpredictable auction, particularly because teams such as KKR will enter the proceedings with sizeable purses to rebuild their squads.
With the retention window closed and the auction date confirmed, IPL franchises will now finalise their strategies for the Abu Dhabi auction, balancing overseas signings and domestic reinforcements to meet squad composition rules.
