IPL 2026 Mini Auction: BCCI Adds 9 New Players, Updates Final List to 359
BCCI updates the IPL 2026 mini-auction list to 359 players, adding nine new names and reclassifying Nikhil Chaudhary as an overseas player ahead of the Dubai event.
BCCI releases updated IPL 2026 mini-auction list featuring 359 players.
The BCCI has undertaken significant alterations concerning the IPL 2026 mini-auction list by adding nine new players and also rectifying the Indian-origin cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary's classification, who has currently been moved to the overseas players’ category. With this modification, the final auction list has now a total of 359 players, among them only 77 will be awarded IPL contracts. The auction is set to take place in Dubai on December 16, with Kolkata Knight Riders entering the event with the largest budget.
Changes Soon After Initial Release
Initially, the board put forth a roster of 350 players but after a few hours, it changed the roster by including nine additional players and correcting a mistake of an Indian player being wrongly mentioned as a Big Bash League player. The modified list now has 359 players in total.
Nine New Players Added
Among the new additions are recently released RCB player and IPL winner Swastik Chikara, and Malaysia’s top batter Viran Deep Singh, the only representative from an associate nation in this year’s list.
The other seven players added are:
Manishankar Murasingh (Tripura), Chama Milind (Hyderabad), K.L. Shrijith (Karnataka), Ethan Bosch (South Africa), Chris Green (Australia), Rahul Raj Namal (Uttarakhand), Virat Singh (Jharkhand).
Why Nikhil Chaudhary Was Reclassified
The update was triggered by a classification error involving BBL cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary, who was wrongly listed as an Indian player. Born in Delhi, Nikhil played domestic cricket in Punjab alongside Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Shubman Gill. A COVID-era travel issue kept him in Australia, where he restarted his cricketing career. Recently, he became the first player of Indian origin to score a century for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield. He has also played in the Big Bash League, Global Super League, Max 60 Caribbean and Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Final Auction Composition
Total players: 359
Indian players: 247
Overseas players: 112
Slots available: 77
Overseas slots: 31
Indian slots: 46
This means only 46 out of 247 Indian players will be picked.
Teams With the Highest Purse
Kolkata Knight Riders lead with a purse of ₹64.30 crore and have 13 slots to fill.
Chennai Super Kings follow with ₹43.4 crore remaining and 9 slots open.
The IPL 2026 mini-auction will be held in Dubai on December 16.
