IPL 2025 Auction saw some great picks by all 10 teams. Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer were the hot properties and teams splurged. They turned out to be the costliest players.
Pant is now with Lucknow Super Giants for 27 crore. Punjab Kings spent 26.75 crore on Iyer and Kolkata Knight Riders got Venkatesh Iyer for 23.75 crore.
Instead of a mega auction there will be a mini auction for 2026 IPL. Teams will still get to pick players. We have seen teams spend big in past mini auctions so 2026 could be the same.
IPL 2026 mini-auction targets for each team:
1. Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
After a disastrous 2025 season with only 4 wins, CSK will look to strengthen their squad. If they retain Dewald Brevis, Ayush Mhatre and Urvil Patel, they might look for overseas all-rounders for finishing and bowling.
Potential targets: Mitchell Owen, Cameron Green, Donovan Ferreira, Sanju Samson (trade), Mark Wood, Gerald Coetzee, William O’Rourke
2. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The inaugural season winners, RR finished 2nd last in 2025. Despite showing faith in Vaibhav Suryavanshi who set records, the team struggled. A potential Sanju Samson trade could open the innings for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav, with Dhruv Jurel as wicket-keeper. RR’s bowling was weak so they’ll look for bowlers.
Potential targets: T Natarajan, Mohammed Shami, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha
3. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
After winning in 2024, KKR missed the playoffs in 2025 and finished 8th. Their bowling and batting needed work. KKR will look for wicketkeepers, openers and all-rounders.
Potential targets: Alex Carey, Jamie Smith, Cameron Green, Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Ben Stokes, Mohammed Shami
4. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Lucknow Super Giants finished 7th. Strong batting except for Rishabh Pant, injuries affected their bowling early on. They may look for overseas pacers as their spin options are set with Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi and Digvesh Rathi.
Potential targets: Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Seales, Gerald Coetzee
5. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The 2024 finalists, SRH finished 6th in 2025. Good batting but lacked a middle order anchor. Missed Aiden Markram.
Potential targets: Cameron Green, Rilee Rossouw, Michael Bracewell, K.S. Bharat
6. Delhi Capitals (DC)
DC started well but faded, winning 5 of their first 7 but only 2 of their last 7 and finished 5th. To improve, DC needs an opener who can give them quick starts. Their middle order can capitalize if they get a good start. Last season their openers had the lowest batting average (21.78) among all teams. Luckily their bowlers did well.
Possible targets: Mayank Agarwal, Daniel Sams, Finn Allen, Adil Rashid, Kyle Jamieson.
7. Mumbai Indians (MI)
MI had a rollercoaster season. After winning only 1 of their first 5 (Jasprit Bumrah missed 4 of them), they won 7 of the next 9 and finished 4th. They beat Gujarat Titans but lost to Punjab Kings in the 2nd qualifier. MI should consider adding spinners in the auction.
Possible targets: Tabraiz Shamsi, Mohammad Nabi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Michael Bracewell, Rushil Ugarkar.
8. Gujarat Titans (GT)
GT had a good season in 2025 with Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler scoring runs. This meant their middle order didn’t get many chances. When Buttler left before the Eliminator, their middle order couldn’t close the game and GT lost by 20 runs. GT needs a middle order batter who can score runs reliably.
Possible targets: Ben Duckett, Rassie van der Dussen, Cameron Green, Ravi Smaran, Tushar Raheja.
9. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
RCB finally won their first trophy in 18 years! Almost everything went their way. They won 9 of 14 and finished 2nd.
RCB can add a power hitter to replace Liam Livingstone. They can also use a bowling all-rounder in the lower middle order.
Possible targets: Shardul Thakur, Mark Wood, Jhye Richardson, Ben McDermott.
10. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Under Shreyas Iyer, Punjab Kings played well and finished 1st with 9 wins in 14. PBKS can look for a wicketkeeper-batter for the middle order who can finish well. They may also look for players who can handle spinners and add a few backup bowlers.
Possible targets: Steve Smith, Tom Curran, Nandre Burger, Tim Seifert, Gulbadin Naib.
