Third year abroad: IPL 2026 auction to be held in Abu Dhabi on December 16

New Delhi [India], November 13 (ANI): The 2026 Indian Premier League IPL auction is set to be held on December 16 in Abu Dhabi, marking the third consecutive year that the event will take place overseas. The 2024 auction in Dubai was the first-ever IPL auction held outside India, followed by the two-day mega auction for the 2025 season in Jeddah last November, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Unlike the mega auctions, the 2026 edition will be a mini auction and will be completed in a single day. All franchises have been asked to submit their list of retained and released players from their 2025 squads by 3 pm IST on November 15. After that, teams will receive the list of registered players from which they can shortlist names. The final auction pool will be finalised by IPL after they get the list.
The trading window, which opened after the conclusion of IPL 2025, will remain active until a week before the auction. It will reopen after the auction and stay open until one month before the start of IPL 2026. However, franchises will not be allowed to trade any player who is bought at the upcoming auction.
So far, there have already been four confirmed trades involving five teams, including one of the most high-profile swaps in IPL history. In a landmark move, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals (RR), while RR received the all-rounder duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in return.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians (MI), made two all-cash deals, bringing in Shardul Thakur from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for Rs 2 crore and Sherfane Rutherford from Gujarat Titans (GT) for Rs 2.60 crore. In another trade, LSG acquired Arjun Tendulkar from MI for his base price of Rs 30 lakh. (ANI)