IPL player auction final list change! BCCI made double mistake

BCCI made a major mistake before the IPL 2026 auction. Some players included in the auction were mistakenly excluded from the final list. The board has now rectified the major mistake.

Why BCCI had to change the list of players for IPL 2026 mini auction

Before the IPL 2026 auction, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a major mistake. Some players included in the auction were inadvertently excluded from the final list. However, just a few hours later, the BCCI rectified its mistake and added nine new players to the final list. The BCCI had finalized 350 players for the auction, but with the addition of nine new names, the list now stands at 359.

Over 1,300 players registered for the mini auction scheduled for December 16 in Abu Dhabi, of which around 1,000 have been dropped. The new players include IPL winner Swastik Chikara, recently released by Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Virandeep Singh, the only player from an associate nation (Malaysia) in this year’s auction pool. The other seven players added are Tripura all-rounder Manishanker Murasingh, Chama Milind (Hyderabad), K.L. Sreejith (Karnataka), Ethan Bosch (South Africa), Chris Green (Australia), Rahul Raj Namla (Uttarakhand) and Virat Singh (Jharkhand).

In this final list of 359 players, 247 are Indians, while 112 are overseas players. However, only 77 slots are to be filled. Thus, more than 200 players will still remain unsold. Of these, 31 foreign players could be successful in getting IPL contracts. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has the highest purse of Rs 64.30 crore and they have to fill the slots of 13 players, followed by Chennai Super Kings with Rs 43.4 crore. They have 9 slots vacant.

Another mistake by the BCCI was that Delhi-born Nikhil Chaudhary was included in the final list as an Indian uncapped player. However, he is now settled in Australia and plays domestic cricket there. Therefore, his category has been changed to Australian uncapped player, from the previous Indian uncapped player. Nikhil Chaudhary has played in the Big Bash League.