Another year and another Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. Since its inception, the world's richest franchise league has completed 18 glorious seasons, studded with some of the best memories, the latest being Virat Kohli lifting the silverware for the first time in his career.
With the IPL 2026 auction just five days away, the buzz around the sporting extravaganza has once again started, with 350 players to go under the hammer in Abu Dhabi on 16 December for the 77 vacant slots. The highest base price at the auction is ₹2 crore with 40 cricketers opting to enter the bidding war in this bracket.
Furthermore, players have also registered themselves in different brackets — ₹1.5 crore (9 players), ₹1.25 crore (4), ₹1 crore (17), ₹75 lakh (42), ₹50 lakh (4), ₹40 lakh (7) and ₹30 lakh (227) — for the IPL 2026 auction.
Who sets the base prices of players in the IPL auction?
It may be noted that the base price of a player for an IPL auction isn't decided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Governing Council or the franchises. Instead, it is the players who decide their own base prices at the time of registration.
The choice of the base price by the players is a bit of a strategic play. While a high base price can increase the risk of a player getting unsold, a lower base price widens the chance of attracting more franchises and even starting a bidding war. Cricketers who are at the fag end of their career and no longer play international cricket opt for a lower base price in recent years.
One must understand that a base price is not influenced by any franchise recommendation. What influences a player is their market demand, competition, and their recent form. Once the auction begins, it's all in the hands of fate.
One of the prime examples is India batter Shreyas Iyer. The 31-year-old, who had won the IPL with Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 season, was in high demand if available in the auction. Iyer set himself a base price of ₹2 crore and was put in the selected list of marquee players.
What unfolded was totally unexpected, as Iyer was bought by the Punjab Kings for a mammoth price of ₹26.75 crore, the second-most expensive player in IPL history.
Who enters IPL 2026 auction with highest purse?
Three-time champions KKR will enter the IPL 2026 auction with the highest purse of ₹64.30 crore, followed by five-time champions Chennai Super Kings with ₹43.4 crore.
