Unearthed diamonds: 3 SMAT 2025 batters who might trigger bidding wars in IPL 2026 mini-auction
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 serves as a showcase for IPL 2026 mini-auction.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26 has doubled up as a live audition for the IPL 2026 mini-auction, and a handful of uncapped batters have climbed straight to the front of the queue. Here is a look at three batters who stand out as the ones who can draw big bids during the upcoming auction.
Kunal Chandela
Uttarakhand’s Kunal Chandela is currently the leading run-getter in SMAT 2025/26, with 350 runs in seven innings at an average of 50.00 and a strike rate of 150.86. He has already hit four fifties, with a highest of 94, and his 36 fours and 14 sixes in the tournament tell you he is doing it with great aggression.
Listed in the IPL 2026 auction as an uncapped right-handed batter at a base price of INR 30 lakh, Chandela looks tailor-made for teams that want a domestic opener or no.2 who can bat through and still keep the tempo high. Franchises with slightly volatile top orders - Kolkata, or maybe to some extent, Gujarat could view him as a low-risk, plug-and-play option who allows overseas hitters to swing freely around him.
Yashvardhan Dalal
Haryana’s Yashvardhan Dalal has matched elite company for both volume and efficiency. He sits on 319 runs in seven innings, but with two not-outs that push his average to 63.80 and a strike rate of 143.40. He too has four fities, a highest of 76*, and a bouncey count of 29 fours and 13 sixes, proper modern T20 intent rathern than accumulation.
Dalal is listed in the mini-auction as an uncapped wicketkeeper-batter at INR 30 lakh, which instantly boosts his value: an Indian top-four option who can keep, allowing a side to play an extra overseas bowler or power-hitter. For teams still not locked with a good option in the India wicket-keeper area - Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Dalal can be a good value pick.
Karan Lal
From Bengal, Karan Lal has had a quieter narrative but a brutally loud stat line. Batting in the middle order, he has scored 219 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 195.53, including a tournament-defining 113 and one other fifty. He has already struck 18 fours and 17 sixes, the profile of a player who changes games in clusters of balls rather than batting 20 overs. Add in his all-round tag, and he becomes an ideal mid-budget target for sides searching for Indian batting depth at no.5/no.6 with a few overs - exactly the kind of player who can jump from a base price of INR 30 lakh into the INR 1-2 crore band.
