A total of 1355 cricketers registered for the IPL 2026 auction, and from that huge list, only 350 players have been shortlisted to go under the hammer in Abu Dhabi next week. With only 77 slots up for grabs and just 31 of them for overseas players, the competition is extremely tight.
Last season alone, Rishabh Pant created headlines when Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) picked him for an astonishing 27 crore, making him the most expensive player in IPL history.
These huge numbers show how quickly the league has grown and how much teams are willing to invest in players who can change games.
The stars who lit up the IPL Auction stage first
The following year, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff topped the charts together at 7.55 crore when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and CSK brought them, respectively. The real turning point came in 2011, when the current Indian head coach and former KKR captain Gautam Gambhir crossed the 10-crore barrier with an 11.04 crore deal from the franchise.
How IPL prices exploded from 2014 to 2025
Later, Yuvraj Singh dominated back-to-back auctions in 2014 and 2015 with massive deals of 14 crore and then 16 crore with RCB and Delhi, respectively. In 2016, Shane Watson was the most expensive player, with RCB spending 9.5 crores for the former Australian all-rounder.
In 2020, the Australian captain and fast bowler Pat Cummins ruled the chart with a 15.5 crore deal with KKR. Chris Morris shocked everyone with a stunning 16.25 crore deal with the Royals in 2021.
But the bar kept rising with big signings like Ishan Kishan (15.25 crore, MI in 2022) and Sam Curran (18.5 crore, Punjab Kings in 2023), until Mitchell Starc rewrote history in 2024 with a jaw-dropping 24.75 crore deal with the KKR.
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