IPL 2026 auction on December 16 in Abu Dhabi after 173 players retained: BCCI

The IPL 2026 player auction is set to take place on 16th December at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, announced BCCI on Saturday, November 15, after all ten franchises revealed their list of retained and released players for the upcoming season.

The player retention window for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season closed on 15 November 2025, with all 10 franchises finalising their squads ahead of the upcoming auction. In total,173 players have been retained across teams, including 49 overseas players.

At the auction, franchises will collectively have 237.55 crore available to fill 77 remaining slots. With each team permitted a maximum squad size of 25 players, Punjab Kings have chosen to retain the most, keeping 21 players. Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans follow closely with 20 retentions each.

Among all teams, Kolkata Knight Riders enter the auction with the largest purse 64.3 crore and can fill up to 13 spots, including six overseas vacancies. Chennai Super Kings hold



the second-biggest budget of 43.4 crore and have nine slots open for the auction.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released the largest number of players on the retention deadline day, with CSK releasing 11 players while KKR let go of eight players. Kolkata Knight Riders raised eyebrows by releasing Andre Russell, one of their most influential match-winners. KKR retained Ajinkya Rahane, who is likely to continue leading the side should they fail to secure a marquee player at the mini-auction.

Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, released Matheesha Pathirana, their match-winning fast bowler who had earned the trust of MS Dhoni. Apart from that, CSK also engaged in a player trade with Rajasthan Royals (RR) and let go of veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, along with Sam Curran, to acquire Sanju Samson.

Both CSK and KKR are expected to engage in several intense bidding wars for top players at the mini-auction as previous auction records are all set to be broken.