The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not only corrected player classifications but also added nine new names to the player list of the IPL 2026 mini auction shortly after publishing the initial list.
The first list which had 350 players was updated within few hours to accommodate more entries, bringing the final tally to 359 players. One of the major changes was Indian-origin player Nikhil Chaudhary who was transferred to the foreign players category after a mix-up where he was originally placed in the Indian players category.
New Players Added
The updated list features IPL winner Swastik Chikara, recently released by Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Malaysian batter Virandeep Singh, one of the associate nation players in this year’s auction. The other seven additions are:
- Manishankar Murasingh (Tripura)
- Chama Milind (Hyderabad)
- K.L. Sreejith (Karnataka)
- Ethan Bosh (South Africa)
- Chris Green (Australia)
- Rahul Raj Namala (Uttarakhand)
- Virat Singh (Jharkhand)
Nikhil Chaudhary Reclassified
The revision was largely triggered by the correction of Nikhil Chaudhary’s status. Born in Delhi, Chaudhary played domestic cricket for Punjab before continuing his career in Australia during the Covid period. He recently created history by becoming the first Indian-origin player to score a century in the Sheffield Shield for Tasmania. He has also featured in leagues such as the Big Bash League, Global Super League, Max 60 Caribbean, and Abu Dhabi T10.
Auction Numbers and Team Purse
As per the last published list, the auction will consist of 247 Indian players along with 112 overseas players. Just 77 players are anticipated to gain IPL contracts, comprising of 31 foreign players, thus making it 46 Indian players who are possibly going to be selected.
The Kolkata Knight Riders come into the mini auction possessing the biggest purse of ₹64.30 crore along with 13 open slots while the Chennai Super Kings have a purse of ₹43.4 crore and nine vacancies.
The IPL 2026 mini auction is scheduled to take place in Dubai on December 16.
