IPL 2026: Strongest Playing XIs of All 10 Teams After Mini Auction, With Impact Players

The IPL 2026 mini auction was a scandalous affair that made history not only for the extravagant money spent but also for the high drama involved. Even before the auction, which was held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, the ten franchises were already done coalition their teams for the new season. These teams altogether splurged an unimaginable amount of ₹215.45 crore for bringing in new players to fill 77 vacant positions.

The Kochi Knight Riders (KKR) have grabbed the limelight by bringing in the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green who has now become the most expensive overseas player in IPL history. KKR also went on hiring the Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana and Bangladeshi slow left-arm bowler Mustafizur Rahman to continue overpowering the pace department. Contrary to this, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) not only stunned everyone but also made the unheard-of Indian talents Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma the stars of the future by their record bids of ₹14.20 crore each, thus, establishing their focus on future stars.

Now that the teams are set, let's see the strongest possible XIs of all the 10 IPL teams for the 2026 season, along with their Impact Player picks.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

The veteran Indian batter Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer, and new captain Rajat Patidar are just a few of the exciting prospects that RCB will be fielding this season along with the likes of Tim David, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, and Yash Dayal. The investment player will be Suyash Sharma.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Sanju Samson, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (wk), Jamie Overton, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad.

Impact Player: Ayush Mhatre

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghazanfar

Impact Player: Mayank Markande

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Cameron Green, Finn Allen (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (C), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora

Impact Player: Manish Pandey

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Liam Livingstone, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (C), Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Shivam Mavi, Zeeshan Ansari

Impact Player: Salil Arora

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Cooper Connolly, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson

Impact Player: Harpreet Brar

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (C & wk), Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mohammed Shami, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan

Impact Player: M Siddharth

Delhi Capitals (DC)

KL Rahul (wk), Ben Duckett, Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel (C), David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi Dar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T. Natarajan

Impact Player: Karun Nair

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma

Impact Player: Vignesh Puthur

Gujarat Titans (GT)

Shubman Gill (C), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Jason Holder, Prasidh Krishna

Impact Player: Sai Kishore

With balanced squads, star power, and smart Impact Player options, IPL 2026 is sure to be one of the toughest seasons ever.