The wait is over! The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction will be held at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16. The IPL 2026 mini-auction will start at 2:30 PM IST (1 PM local time). 

The highly-anticipated IPL 2026 player auction will see a total of 359 cricketers - 246 Indians and 113 overseas players - go under the hammer in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Among the 359 cricketers up for grabs, 114 are capped players. The IPL 2026 player auction pool also features 230 uncapped Indian cricketers and 15 uncapped overseas players.

Australian star all-rounder Cameron Green, Sri Lankan speedster Matheesha Pathirana, South Africa’s swashbuckling batter David Miller, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith are expected to be some of the most sought-after buys at the IPL 2026 mini auction.

Among the Indian cricketers, the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Sarfaraz Khan, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi and Akash Deep could spark intense bidding war in the upcoming auction.

Ahead of the auction, Gujarat Titans have already retained as many as 20 players, including captain Shubman Gill, who played pivotal roles in guiding us to the IPL Playoffs last season. 

Apart from our talismanic skipper Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Kishore, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Manav Suthar,  Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Gurnoor Brar, Arshad Khan and Nishant Sindhu will once again don the Titans’ jersey. 

Among our overseas contingent, England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, Afghanistan spin maestro Rashid Khan, South Africa’s premier pacer Kagiso Rabada and New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips have all been retained for the IPL 2026 season.

Meanwhile, the IPL 2022 champions will head into the mini auction with a remaining purse of INR 12.9 crore to fill five slots, including four overseas slots open. 

Having retained the core group, the Titans will look to bolster specific areas in the upcoming mini auction as we aim to clinch our second IPL title in 2026.

Where to watch IPL 2026 auction live in India

The Indian Premier League 2026 player auction will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network’s TV channels in India.

Live streaming of the IPL 2026 auction will be available on the JioHotstar app and website. 

Gujarat Titans squad ahead of IPL 2026 auction

Batters: Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Kumar Kushagra, Jos Buttler, Anuj Rawat

Bowlers: Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Sai Kishore

All-rounders: Arshad Khan, Glenn Phillips, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar

#TitansFAM, which players do you want to see wearing the Titans’ jersey in IPL 2026? Do mention them in the comment section.