IPL 2026 mini-auction: 3 players who might be sold for the highest prices
In mini auctions, Indian players like Bishnoi fetch high prices due to their reliability, with teams willing to overpay for capped wrist-spinners.
Tomorrow’s IPL 2026 mini-auction won’t recreate the exact chaos of the Shreyas Iyer mega-auction sprint that ran to 103 bids. But a mini-auction can still throw up three high-end sales that would make the headline.
KKR walk in with INR 64.30 crore, while CSK sit next at INR 43.40 crore, that’s the economic engine behind tomorrow’s highest prices.
Our method: Predicting the 3 costliest buys
We built a High-Price Index using five signals:
- Purse power + slots pressure: who can sustain a long fight without breaking their squad build?
- Role scarcity: Is the player a one-of-two in the pool for that job?
- Multi-team fit: How many franchises can credibly claim “We need him in our best XI.”
- Cap dynamics: Overseas bidding may look like it’s going beyond reality because the overseas salary is capped at INR 18 crore; any surplus doesn’t reach the player.
- Bid-ladder longevity: The IPL uses an increment ladder that stretches wars once prices move fast, so we estimate bid count as a range, not a single magic number.
With that, here are three players who we expect to sell for the highest prices tomorrow.
1. Cameron Green
Base Price: INR 2 Crore
Why he tops the auction: Cameron Green is rare in any market, but especially in a mini auction: a top six power bat who also gives you overs and elite fielding. More importantly, the KKR logic is already out in the open, as they are likely to chase him as a Russell-structure replacement, and they have the purse to bully the room.
Who drives the price:
- KKR as the alpha bidder (money + need).
- CSK as the most credible challenger because they can afford a headline overseas all-rounder.
Prediction
- Team: KKR
- Price INR 16-18 crore
- Estimated bids: 45-60
Also Read: INR 10-crore race at IPL 2026 auction: Why ex-CSK star and 3 others could trigger big-money bidding wars in Abu Dhabi
2. Liam Livingstone
Base price: INR 2 crore
Why he becomes the second costliest: Liam Livingstone isn’t just an all-rounder; he is a tactical toolkit: middle-order power, spin-hitting, and secondary bowling that helps captains manage match-ups. In a mini auction, that multi-skill profile inflates because it plugs two problems with one overseas slot.
Who drives the price:
- CSK is the most logical landing spot because they are explicitly positioned to target a premium overseas all-rounder. Cameron Green might be out of their reach given KKR’s purse size, so CSK might look to bring Livingstone in.
- LSG would be looking to target overseas all-rounders with a mid-sized purse.
Prediction
- Team: CSK
- Price: INR 14-16 cr
- Estimated bids 30-45
Also Read: IPL 2026 Auction LIVE: BCCI set for a major announcement, one more surprise after late additions set the ball rolling
3. Ravi Bishnoi
Base price: INR 2 cr
Why goes massive: In mini auctions, teams often overpay for Indian certainty because it protects overseas combinations and reduces XI fragility. Bishnoi also sits in a scarce bracket: a capped Indian wrist-spinner in his prime, not something you casually replace.
Who drives the price:
- SRH would be looking for a premium spinner to be a part of their squad. With their purse size, they can be the prime contenders to purchase Bishnoi.
- LSG might hunt him to buy him back to a point. They have released him, and that has created a void they would look to fill by buying him back.
Prediction:
Team: SRH
Price: INR 8-10 cr
Estimated bids: 30-40
