The auction for the 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled for December 15–16. The venue for the auction has not been confirmed yet, but likely to be held in Abu Dhabi.The 2025 IPL season was one of the ages as the man in number 18, Virat Kohli, ended his 18-year-long wait for an IPL trophy with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), beating Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the final by six runs at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
As TimesofIndia.com reported earlier, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) are preparing a trade involving their captain and wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson. RR may trade Samson to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in exchange for all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.Teams must complete their retention list by November 15. They can continue to make trades or player swaps before the auction, which is expected in mid-December.The trading window for IPL teams opened on June 4, a day after the 2025 final, and will stay open until one week before the 2026 players’ auction. After the auction ends, the trading window will open again and will close one month before the start of the next season.Trades in the IPL can be done in different ways:Swapping players at the same price,Swapping players at different prices, where the team receiving the higher-valued player pays the balance, orAn all-cash trade, where a team sells a player to increase its auction purse.
IPL 2026 retention rules
The deadline for player retention ahead of IPL 2026 is November 15, 2025. All ten franchises must submit their retained and released player lists before the mini-auction scheduled for mid-December, likely between December 15-16.Unlike mega auctions, there is no restriction on the number of players a team can retain ahead of the mini-auction. A franchise can keep any number of players from its current squad, provided it follows the rules: a squad size of up to upto 25 players, and a salary cap limit of Rs 120 crore.
