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In a significant reshaping of the upcoming IPL 2026 mini-auction, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has whittled down its initial longlist of 1,355 players to a compact pool of 350 — a reduction of nearly 75 percent. The refined roster, finalised after several rounds of exchanges with franchises, also features 35 surprise inclusions who were not part of the original spreadsheet circulated to teams, according to a Cricbuzz report
The auction is scheduled for December 16 at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena, beginning at 1 pm local time (2:30 pm IST), the board informed franchises late Monday night.
Among the unexpected entries, the most eye-catching is South Africa’s Quinton de Kock. The wicketkeeper-batter, absent from the preliminary list, was added in the third lot of keeper-batters after a franchise put his name forward. De Kock, 33, recently returned from international retirement and blasted a century in Visakhapatnam, prompting renewed interest. He enters the auction with a base price of INR 1 crore — half of what he commanded at the previous mega sale, where Kolkata Knight Riders secured him for INR 2 crore before releasing him after an underwhelming season.
Several other fresh overseas faces feature in the updated document, including Sri Lankan players Traveen Mathew, Binura Fernando, Kusal Perera and Dunith Wellalage. Afghanistan’s Arab Gul and West Indies’ Akeem Auguste also make their first appearance. On the domestic front, the list expands to include names such as Vishnu Solanki, Parikshit Valsangkar, Sadek Hussain, Izaz Sawariya and 20 others who were not part of the initial submission.
As per the auction format outlined by the BCCI, the proceedings will begin with capped players, grouped by specialist roles — batters, all-rounders, wicketkeeper-batters, fast bowlers and spinners — followed by uncapped players arranged in the same sequence. The opening batch (BA1) includes high-value prospects such as Cameron Green, Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Prithvi Shaw and David Miller, while Venkatesh Iyer heads into the AL1 all-rounders bracket.
The board has also confirmed that the accelerated phase of the auction is tentatively set to begin after the 70th player. Afghanistan’s Wahidullah Zadran occupies that position in the catalogue. Players numbered 71 to 350 will go under the hammer in the first acceleration round, after which franchises will be invited to propose unsold or unpresented names for an additional quick-fire run.
New inclusions in IPL auction 2026:
Overseas players: Arab gulg (Afghanistan), Miles Hammondand (England), Dandland), Quinton de Kck (South Africa) Connor Eztherhuizen (South Africa), George Linde (South Africa), Bayanda Bayanda Majola (South Africa), Traveen Mathew (Sri Lanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka), Bithanka) Wellalage (Sri Lanka), akeem Auguste (West indies).
Indian players: Sadek Hussain, Vishnu Solanki, Sabir Khan, Brijesh Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Aaron George, Jikku Bright, Srihari Nair, Madhav Bajaj, Shreevathsa Acharya, Yashraj Punja, Sahil Parakh, Roshan Waghsare, Yash Dicholkar, Ayaz Khan, Dhurmil Matkar, Naman Pushpak, Parikshit Valsangkar, Purav Agarwal, Rishabh Chouhan, Sagar Solanki, Izaz Sawariya and Aman Shekawat.
