IPL 2026 was a masterclass in the difference between price and value. The auction creates drama — bidding wars, billionaire owners trying to outbeat the others... But real cricket is played on the pitch, not in the auction hall
There’s a lesson here not just for IPL franchises, but for anyone who confuses the price of something with its worth. This IPL reminds us: the scoreboard doesn’t care what you paid.
Teams with the superstar players, bought at mindboggling prices like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and so on finished at the bottom of the points table.
Stars who had a terrible season
Lucknow Super Giants broke every record at the 2025 mega auction when they secured Rishabh Pant for a mind-blowing Rs 27 crore — the largest bid in the auction and the most expensive signing in IPL history. Rishab and the team had a dreadful season.
Hardik Pandya
Who is rumoured to quit Mumbai Indians, perhaps had the worst season in his career. He was the same player, when captain of Gujrat Titans, won the IPL for his team. Mumbai Indians as a team had a bad season. Boasting of top players like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and the likes and yet they failed collectively.
M.S. Dhoni
didn’t play at all because of an injury and his team performed poorly too.
The Wonder Boy
When Rajasthan Royals paid Rs 1.1 crore for a teenager from Bihar at the IPL 2025 mega auction, most people barely blinked. Vaibhav Suryavanshi was 14 years old at the time — the youngest player ever to secure an IPL contract bought for a price that nobody paid attention to, but what followed was nothing short of jaw-dropping.
This 15-year-old prodigy played brilliantly in the IPL 2026. He won the Orange Cap after emerging as the top-scoring batter this season, with 776 runs to his name. Every top player had a word of praise for him. Rajasthan Royals got a generational talent. The return on investment? Incalculable.
The Skipper not many knew of
Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar entered his name in the history books on Sunday (May 31) by becoming the first player in the world to win two IPL titles in his first two seasons as captain. Patidar was appointed RCB captain ahead of the IPL 2025 season, and he led RCB to their maiden IPL title. This year’s IPL, again, RCB successfully defended their title by defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final on Sunday.
Rajat Patidar’s story is the kind cricket writers dream about. Originally bought by RCB for just Rs 20 lakhs in 2021, he was released and went unsold in the 2022 mega auction. He came back as an injury replacement — and promptly announced himself to the world. Patidar became the first uncapped player to register a century in the IPL playoffs, smashing 112 not out off 54 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in the 2022 Eliminator. A surgery robbed him of the entire 2023 season, but he returned hungrier. Following a strong 2024 campaign where he scored 395 runs at a strike rate of 177.13, RCB retained him for Rs 11 crore and handed him the captaincy ahead of IPL 2025. The rest is history.
