The countdown to the IPL 2026 mega auction is on and the franchises are in the spotlight. The auction scheduled for December 16 at Abu Dhabi will witness the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) among the bidders with the biggest budget of ₹63.30 crore.

KKR’s Auction Strategy

KKR let go of their pricey all-rounders Venkatesh Iyer (₹27.75 crore) and Andre Russell (₹12 crore) before the auction which, in turn, helped them out a lot. The team is now left with 13 open positions, among which are six for international players.

Ashwin’s Mock Auction

Ravichandran Ashwin, a senior player of Team India, once again, did a mock auction of IPL 2026 along with fans representing each of the ten franchises. As soon as the name of Venkatesh Iyer was announced, franchises like Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians began to battle for him by making their offers.

Big Drop in Price!

KKR eventually joined the contest and outbid CSK and MI to bring Venkatesh Iyer back. However, due to his below-par performance last season, his price saw a sharp fall. In the mock auction, KKR secured him for ₹17.5 crore, nearly ₹6 crore less than his previous valuation.

In IPL 2025, Venkatesh Iyer managed just 142 runs in 11 matches and did not bowl a single over, which impacted his market value.

Livingstone Bags Big Money

Simultaneously, the all-rounder from England, Liam Livingstone, was bought at the fictional auction for a whopping ₹18.5 crore by KKR. His performance in IPL 2025 was quite disheartening, as he managed to score only 90 runs during five matches and claimed only two wickets, yet, he was sold at a price of ₹8.75 crore.

With the retirement of Andre Russell, KKR is eyeing Livingstone as a direct substitute; therefore, this is a very important tactical move right before IPL 2026.

The mock auction has already given a hint of what to expect in the real auction later this month, which is definitely going to be a thrilling and unpredictable one.