The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has drastically trimmed the longlist for the upcoming IPL 2026 auction, removing 1,005 players and finalising a pool of 350 names who will officially go under the hammer on December 16 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
The final list also includes 35 newly added players — both Indian and overseas — who were not part of the original registration, with several names included after franchises made direct requests. Among the most notable additions is Quinton de Kock, who reversed his international retirement and recently struck a century against India in the Vizag ODI, prompting a franchise to push for his late entry. He has set a new base price of Rs 1 crore, a 50% reduction from his previous Rs 2 crore tag.
Sri Lanka’s Traveen Mathew, Binura Fernando, Kusal Perera and Dunith Wellalage, Afghanistan’s Arab Gul, and West Indies’ Akeem Auguste are among the overseas players added to the expanded shortlist. On the domestic front, the new names include Vishnu Solanki, Parikshit Valsangkar, Sadek Hussain, Izaz Sawariya and several others who were not part of the initial submission.
As per BCCI’s communication to franchises, the auction will begin at 1 pm UAE time (2:30 pm IST) and follow a structured order — capped players across all specialisms first, followed by uncapped players, and then accelerated rounds.