IPL 2026 Auction Strategy Of All Teams: Players Needed, Possible Targets, Purse Left - All You Need To Know

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction is upon us. One of the most highly-anticipated days of the Indian cricket calendar, franchises will splash out big money as they aim to bolster their teams for IPL 2026. With the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) having massive purses, the mini-auction is likely to make a fair few millionaires. Let's take a detailed look at exactly what every team needs and could be on the hunt for come December 16.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Requirements: Defending champions RCB have their playing XII sorted, and will almost purely be on the lookout for backups or players who improve their already-existing squad. This could include an Indian top-order batter, an Indian spinner and an overseas batter. They could revisit former targets.

Potential Targets: Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, David Miller, Rahul Chahar, Prithvi Shaw

Purse Left: Rs 16.40 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 8 (2 overseas)

Current Squad: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Requirements: CSK's priority will be their at least two players in their lower middle-order, an area that has weakened after the trades of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. A frontline Indian spinner and an overseas pace backup could be the other issues they look to solve.

Potential Targets: Liam Livingstone, Ravi Bishnoi, Matheesha Pathirana, Matt Henry Prashanth Veer

Purse Left: Rs 43.40 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 9 (4 overseas)

Current Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ayush Mhatre, MS Dhoni, Dewald Brevis, Urvil Patel, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Sanju Samson.

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Requirements: Mumbai Indians enter with the lowest-ever budget of any team at a mini-auction, and a squad set to take the field. Their priority would likely be a backup for overseas wicket-keeper batter Ryan Rickelton. MI could also go for lesser-known Indian middle-order batters and Indian spinners.

Potential Targets: Jonny Bairstow, Quinton de Kock, Finn Allen, Salil Arora, Sarfaraz Khan

Purse Left: Rs 2.75 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 5 (1 overseas)

Current Squad: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ryan Rickleton, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Naman Dhir, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Allah Ghafanzar, Ashwani Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande, Shardul Thakur.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Requirements: The team with the most gaps to fill in their playing XII. KKR ideally need a top-order overseas wicket-keeper batter, a middle-order backbone, a finisher and an overseas pacer. They'll also look for backups in each of these areas. On the off-chance, KKR could also seek a captaincy candidate.

Potential Targets: Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Kartik Sharma

Purse Left: Rs 64.30 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 13 (6 overseas)

Current Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Varun Chakravarthy, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Requirements: Sunrisers Hyderabad will definitely be on the lookout for one or two Indian fast bowlers and Indian finishers. The Orange Army could also look for suitable backups to established stars like Heinrich Klaasen, and possibly go hard for an Indian spinner too.

Potential Targets: Kartik Sharma, Auqib Dar, Venkatesh Iyer, Salil Arora, Ravi Bishnoi

Purse Left: Rs 25.50 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 10 (2 overseas)

Current Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari.

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Requirements: RR will be desperate to sign a frontline spinner, having let go of both Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana ahead of the mini-auction. A top-order Indian or overseas batter could also be on their radar, as they look to fill the big boots left to fill.

Potential Targets: Ravi Bishnoi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Chahar, Michael Bracewell, David Miller

Purse Left: Rs 16.05 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 9 (1 overseas)

Current Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Shimron Hetmyer, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Donovan Ferreira.

Gujarat Titans (GT)

Requirements: Having traded Sherfane Rutherford to Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans will be on the look-out for a middle-order enforcer, possibly an overseas one. Expect them to also go for an overseas pacer given Kagiso Rabada's injury record.

Potential Targets: David Miller, Venkatesh Iyer, Liam Livingstone, Lungi Ngidi, Cooper Connolly

Purse Left: Rs 12.90 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 5 (4 overseas)

Current Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips.

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Requirements: Punjab Kings' primary requirement will be finding a replacement for  Australian wicket-keeper batter Josh Inglis, who was released as he would be unavailable for the majority of IPL 2026. PBKS have a maximum of four slots left, and could also look for a replacement for Glenn Maxwell.

Potential Targets: Jamie Smith, Cooper Connolly, Jonny Bairstow, Daryl Mitchell, Jake Fraser-McGurk

Purse Left: Rs 11.50 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 4 (2 overseas)

Current Squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyala Avinash, Harnoor Pannu, Suryansh Shedge, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Lockie Ferguson, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Vishnu Vinod.

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Requirements: Having released both Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser-McGurk, overseas top-batters will be at the forefront of Delhi Capitals' wishlist. With five overseas slots left, DC can also go for overseas middle-order hitters. An Indian pacer could also be in their shortlist.

Potential Targets: David Miller, Jamie Smith, Quinton de Kock, Auqib Dar, Simarjeet Singh

Purse Left: Rs 21.80 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 8 (5 overseas)

Current Squad: Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Abishek Porel, Tristan Stubbs, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Madhav Tiwari, Tripurana Vijay, Ajay Mandal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera, Nitish Rana.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

Requirements: Much like CSK, LSG will be eyeing one or two middle-order batters and potentially finishers, having released their big money signing David Miller. They could also look for Indian spin-bowling options to partner or serve as backup to Digvesh Rathi.

Potential Targets: Liam Livingstone, Kartik Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhinav Manohar

Purse Left: Rs 22.95 crore

Slots Left: Maximum 6 (4 overseas)

Current Squad: Rishabh Pant (c), Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Ayush Badoni, Aiden Markram, Matthew Breetzke, Himmat Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshin Kulkarni, Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Prince Yadav, Akash Singh, Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar.

Topics mentioned in this article

IPL 2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru Chennai Super Kings Mumbai Indians Kolkata Knight Riders Sunrisers Hyderabad Rajasthan Royals Gujarat Titans Punjab Kings Delhi Capitals Lucknow Super Giants Cameron Green Venkatesh Iyer Liam Livingstone Ravi Bishnoi Kartik Sharma Matheesha Pathirana David Miller Salil Arora Cricket