The bugle for the 19th season of the Indian Premier League has been sounded. The auction for the upcoming season of IPL will take place next month. This time a mini auction will be organized. Before the IPL 2026 auction, all 10 teams have released their respective lists of released and retained players. Know here the A to Z details of IPL 2026 mini auction.

This time IPL auction will be held abroad

The mini auction for IPL 2026 will be held on December 16 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. BCCI unveiled the date and venue of the IPL 2026 auction after releasing the list of released and retained players by all the teams.

BCCI has said in the press release that all the 10 teams have retained a total of 173 players, which includes 49 foreign players and some traded players. 10 teams have 77 slots left for the IPL 2026 mini auction. The total purse of all the franchises is Rs 237.55 crore.

According to IPL rules, each franchise can include a maximum of 25 players in its team. Even before the auction, Punjab Kings have retained 21 players. Whereas Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians have retained 20-20 players.

Kolkata has the most money and Mumbai has the least money.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will have the highest purse of Rs 64.3 crore in this auction. KKR can buy 13 players in the auction. KKR has released expensive players like Andre Russell (Rs 12 crore) and Venkatesh Iyer (Rs 23.75 crore) before the mini auction.

Sunrisers Hyderabad has Rs 25.5 crore left in their purse. Mumbai Indians will enter this mini auction with the lowest amount. This franchise has retained almost all its famous players. Only Rs 2.75 crore is left in the purse of Mumbai Indians.

IPL 2026 Mini Auction Update: A big update has come on the date and venue for the auction before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. This time there is going to be a mini auction, which will be held in Abu Dhabi on 15 or 16 December 2025. The IPL 2026 auction is going to be held abroad once again. This will be the third consecutive time that the auction will be held outside India. Although BCCI has not yet officially announced the dates and venue, it has been confirmed in many media reports.

Big update on IPL auction

Preparations for the mini auction for IPL 2026 are going on in full swing and this time too the players will be bid abroad. According to reports, the auction will be held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 15 or 16 December 2025. This is the third consecutive time that the IPL auction is going to be held outside India. Earlier, the auction was held in Dubai in the year 2023 and in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the year 2024.

Will the team change before the auction?

A big change can be seen under the trade window before the mini auction of IPL 2026. According to the report of Cricbuzz, the deal of Sanju Samson in exchange of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran is almost finalized. Sanju Samson can join Chennai Super Kings before the auction. At the same time, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran can enter Rajasthan Royals.

Retention deadline and trade window

BCCI has fixed November 15, 2025 as the last date for all franchises to submit the list of their retained and released players. Just before the last date of retention, there is movement in the trade window as well.

Let us tell you that trade window is the time during which any IPL franchise can exchange players with other franchises. All 10 teams use this window to strengthen their weak links. This window starts 7 days after the end of the IPL season and closes 7 days before the auction.