The IPL 2026 auction has been set for December 16 in Abu Dhabi, which is the third time in as many years that it will be held outside India. Having held the 2024 auction in Dubai and staged a two-day mega auction for the 2025 season in Jeddah, the league has further extended its tradition of taking one of its biggest annual events outside India. The 2026 edition, as a mini auction, will be a one-day affair but is likely to have big implications for teams’ strategies heading into the next season.
The franchises are all currently gearing up for the key November 15, 3 PM IST deadline – the date by which they will have to submit their list of retained and released players. Once these lists are submitted, teams will get the registered pool of players that they can shortlist from before IPL trims it to be the final auction pool. Each pick matters, and the retention of a player based on this period is turning out to be just as interesting as the auction itself.
Plenty is happening now that the trade window has opened right after the 2025 season. It will be open until one week before the auction, to resurface again after that, only stopping it a month before IPL 2026 starts again. One rule that will remain the same is that the players bought during the 2026 auction can’t be traded in that year.
Four trades have been confirmed in the trading market as of now, with five out of the eight IPL franchises involved, one of which is being termed as one of the biggest player exchanges ever in the history of the league. The Sunrisers Hyderabad have done the unthinkable by luring Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson from the Rajasthan Royals. In exchange, Rajasthan Royals have received two quality all-rounders – Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. One can argue this is one of the most-discussed trades in the recent past.
In other news, Mumbai Indians have also been doing some work on their squad. They have traded Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2 crore and Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans for INR 2.60 crore by cash deals. In a new trading window that opened for 30 minutes, LSG also acquired Mumbai Indians’ Arjun Tendulkar at his base price of INR 30 lakh in another deal to bolster their domestic pace options.
The tentative window for IPL 2026 is March 15 to May 31, which would allow teams a simple preparation slot after the auction. Stakes are rising and anticipation is building for the Abu Dhabi auction as retentions end dramatically and the trade market peaks. Both fans and experts are eagerly awaiting to see how the squads finally look and how such early trades impact the strategies going into yet another high-octane season of IPL.
