IPL Auction Explained: Rules, Purse, Retentions and Records
The IPL auction is where franchises build their squads, and it is one of the most watched events in cricket that doesn’t involve a ball being bowled. Ten teams sit at tables with a fixed budget, an auctioneer calls out player names, and in a few hours some players become crorepatis while others go unsold.
This guide explains how it works in plain terms: the purse, retentions, Right to Match cards, base prices, the rules for overseas players, and the records. The next auction, for IPL 2027, is due to be held in Goa in December 2026.
Quick facts
- Next auction: Goa, December 2026 (exact date to be confirmed)
- Most expensive player ever: Rishabh Pant, ₹27 crore to Lucknow Super Giants (2024 auction for IPL 2025)
- Highest bid for an overseas player: Cameron Green, ₹25.20 crore to Kolkata Knight Riders (December 2025)
- Squad size: 18 to 25 players, a maximum of 8 from overseas
- Base prices: from ₹30 lakh up to ₹2 crore
- Champions: Royal Challengers Bengaluru won IPL 2025 and IPL 2026
Mega auction vs mini auction
The IPL runs in three-year cycles. At the start of each cycle there is a mega auction, where teams release most of their players and rebuild. The last one was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 24 and 25 November 2024, ahead of IPL 2025.
In the two years in between there are mini auctions. Teams keep most of their squads and only fill the gaps left by released or retired players. The IPL 2026 mini auction took place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on 16 December 2025. The current cycle covers 2025 to 2027, so the next mega auction is expected before IPL 2028, although the BCCI has not confirmed the details yet.
The purse: how much each team can spend
Every franchise has an auction purse, the money it is allowed to spend on players. For the 2025 mega auction each team had ₹120 crore. Retained players are paid out of that same pot, so a team that keeps several stars walks into the auction with much less to spend.
At a mini auction there is no fresh purse. Each team brings whatever it has left after retentions and releases. Before the December 2025 auction, Kolkata Knight Riders had the most at ₹64.30 crore and Mumbai Indians the least at just ₹2.75 crore, which is why some teams spend big at mini auctions and others barely bid at all.
The overall salary cap for the cycle rises each year: ₹146 crore in 2025, ₹151 crore in 2026 and ₹157 crore in 2027. On top of their contracts, players also receive a match fee of ₹7.5 lakh per game.
Retentions and Right to Match cards
Before a mega auction, teams can keep up to six players from their existing squad. That limit covers retentions and Right to Match cards together. Of the six, no more than five can be capped players and no more than two uncapped.
Retentions are not free. They come out of the purse at fixed slabs:
| Retention | Cost to the purse |
|---|---|
| 1st capped player | ₹18 crore |
| 2nd capped player | ₹14 crore |
| 3rd capped player | ₹11 crore |
| 4th capped player | ₹18 crore |
| 5th capped player | ₹14 crore |
| Each uncapped player | ₹4 crore |
A team that retains the full six spends ₹79 crore and goes into the auction with ₹41 crore.
A Right to Match (RTM) card lets a team buy back one of its former players at the auction. When bidding ends, the original team is asked whether it wants to use its card. If it does, the highest bidder gets one last chance to raise the price, and the original team must then match that final figure to keep the player. RTM cards are only used at mega auctions, not mini auctions.
Capped, uncapped and base prices
A capped player has played international cricket. An uncapped player has not. Under the current rules, an Indian player who hasn’t appeared in a starting XI for India in the previous five calendar years counts as uncapped again, which matters because uncapped players are much cheaper to retain.
Every player in the auction pool chooses a base price, the lowest bid that can be made for them. The highest base price is ₹2 crore and the lowest is ₹30 lakh. A player who sets his base price high risks going unsold if no team wants to pay that much.
Rules for overseas players
- Register for the mega auction or miss out: an overseas player who doesn’t register for the mega auction cannot enter the following year’s auction.
- A cap on mini auction fees: at a mini auction, an overseas player can’t be paid more than the top retention price (₹18 crore) or the highest price at the previous mega auction, whichever is lower. Teams can still bid higher, but anything above the cap goes to a BCCI player welfare fund rather than to the player.
- Pulling out has consequences: a player who is bought and then makes himself unavailable before the season can be banned from the IPL and the auction for two seasons.
- Squad limit: a squad can include no more than eight overseas players, and only four can play in any one match.
The fee cap is why Cameron Green’s record ₹25.20 crore bid in December 2025 does not mean he earns that much. He is paid ₹18 crore, and the remaining ₹7.20 crore goes to player welfare.
How the bidding works on the day
Players are grouped into sets, usually by role and status: capped batters, capped all-rounders, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers, spinners, then the uncapped sets. The auctioneer introduces each player at his base price and teams raise paddles to bid. The increments grow as the price rises, so bidding moves in smaller steps at the start and bigger jumps once a player passes a few crore.
Later in the day the auction switches to an accelerated round. Teams nominate players they want brought back, including some who went unsold earlier, and those names move through much more quickly. Many bargains are picked up here. Players who are still unsold at the end can be signed later as injury replacements.
Most expensive players in IPL auction history
| Player | Price | Team | Auction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rishabh Pant | ₹27.00 crore | Lucknow Super Giants | 2024 mega auction |
| Shreyas Iyer | ₹26.75 crore | Punjab Kings | 2024 mega auction |
| Cameron Green | ₹25.20 crore | Kolkata Knight Riders | December 2025 |
| Mitchell Starc | ₹24.75 crore | Kolkata Knight Riders | December 2023 |
| Venkatesh Iyer | ₹23.75 crore | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2024 mega auction |
| Pat Cummins | ₹20.50 crore | Sunrisers Hyderabad | December 2023 |
Shreyas Iyer held the record for about 20 minutes in Jeddah before Lucknow went higher for Pant.
Other records
- Most expensive uncapped players: Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma, both ₹14.20 crore to Chennai Super Kings in December 2025. Kartik’s base price was ₹30 lakh.
- Youngest player ever bought: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, aged 13, signed by Rajasthan Royals for ₹1.10 crore at the 2024 mega auction.
The December 2025 auction in numbers
The IPL 2026 auction filled 77 slots, 29 of them with overseas players, and teams spent ₹214.45 crore in total. Kolkata, with the biggest purse, did the most damage: Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore and Matheesha Pathirana for ₹18 crore. Chennai’s double swoop on two uncapped players was the other big story, and Sunrisers Hyderabad signed Liam Livingstone for ₹13 crore. Every franchise left Abu Dhabi with a full squad of 25.
Does spending big win the IPL?
Not on its own. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first title in 2025, beating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final, and defended it in 2026 with a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. They did it with a balanced squad rather than the most expensive one. The teams that do well tend to keep a settled core, use their retentions wisely and find value in the accelerated rounds. See every champion in our IPL winners list.
Frequently asked questions
When is the next IPL auction?
The auction for IPL 2027 is due to take place in Goa in December 2026. The exact date has not been announced yet. It will be the first IPL auction held in India since Jeddah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi hosted the last three.
Who is the most expensive player in IPL history?
Rishabh Pant, bought by Lucknow Super Giants for ₹27 crore in November 2024.
What happens to unsold players?
They can be brought back in the accelerated rounds if a team nominates them. If they still go unsold, teams can sign them later as replacements for injured players.
Can a team spend more than its purse?
No. The auction software stops a team bidding beyond its remaining purse, and each team must also keep enough money to fill its minimum squad of 18.
Looking for Pakistan’s league instead? Here are all the PSL winners.
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