IPL 2026 Mini Auction: How CSK, MI and KKR Have Reshaped Their Squads

On December 16, (Tuesday), Abu Dhabi hosted the Mini auction for IPL 2026, with 369 players competing for 77 blank slots in 10 franchises. The purchase of 77 players included 48 Indian and 29 overseas cricketers, spending a total of INR 215.45 Crores.

Cameron Green has set a new record as the highest –paid overseas player in the IPL auction history with Rs. 25.2 Crores, surpassing Mitchell Starc’s previous records. Green’s acquisition has witnessed a strong fight between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings, resulting in KKR’s win. The top 5 purchases consist of 3 overseas and 2 indian uncapped players. After the mini auction, CSK is reamioning with Rs. 2.4 Crores, KKR with RS. 45 Lakhs and MI with Rs. 55 Lakhs.

As the competition ends and the reshuffled squads have been declared, here is a glance at the newly formed teams of CSK, MI and KKR.

Chennai Super Kings:

CSK has acquired a total of nine players, with spending a whopping INR 28.40 Crores equally for buying the Indian uncapped duo – Kartik Sharma and Prashant Veer. These two joined the charter of most expensive uncapped players in the history of the tournament. The other players bought by CSK at the auction are: Akeal Hosein, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes. It has the second largest purse of Rs. 43.40 Crores. Earlier, CSK had traded the wicket-keeper, batter Sanju Samson from Rajasthan Royals. The franchise has released Matheesha Pathirana, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, making space for new entries. The full squad for CSK in 2026 will be looking like:

Mumbai Indians:

The IPL franchise MI initiated their bid with snapping Quinton de Kock for Rs. 1 Crore, followed by four Indian uncapped players - Danish Malewar, Mohammad Izhar, Atharva Ankolekar and Mayank Rawat each for Rs. 30 Lakhs. Earlier, during the trading window, Mumbai Indians released 10 players and traded Shardul Thakur from LSG (in exchange for Arjun Tendulkar), Sherfane Rutherford from GT and Mayank Markande from KKR into their pool. The fresh MI pool for after the mini-auction looks like:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

KKR enterd into the auction with the highest purse of the season, Rs. 64.3 Crores and has spent wizardly, tapping total 13 players, includiong 6 overseas. The franchise marked the top two bids to their name, the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for INR 25.2 Crores, becoming the highest buy of the season and Sri-Lankan Pacer Matheesha Pathirana for RS. 18 Crores. The other names acquired by the ‘Purple Brigade’ are: Finn Allen (Rs 2 crore), Tejasvi Singh (Rs 3 crore), Kartik Tyagi (Rs 30 lakh), Prashant Solanki (Rs 30 lakh), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 75 lakh), Tim Seifert (Rs 1.5 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 9.20 crore), Sarthak Ranjan (Rs 30 lakh), Daksh Kamra (Rs 30 lakh), Rachin Ravindra (Rs 2 crore), Akash Deep (Rs 1 crore). Ahead of the auction, several names have been released from the KKR pool, which included West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell, whoi later announced his retirement. As the auction ends, KKR’s new squad is:

This story is authored by S. Krishna Kumari Patro, an intern at Deccan Chronicle