The Indian Premier League 2026 is scheduled to start from March 26 and the final will take place on May 31. The BCCI reportedly shared this with the franchises ahead of the mini auction in Abu Dhabi. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play the tournament opener as per the tradition.
However, there is still uncertainty over where the opening match will be held. RCB's home ground M. Chinnaswamy, is the usual choice for the season opener, but its availability remains unclear. Franchise representatives raised the issue during the pre-auction meeting held at the W Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
When will the IPL CEO announce the schedule for 2026
As per a report by Cricbuzz, IPL CEO Hemang Amin announced the tournament schedule during a briefing before the auction. Although the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has received conditional approval from the state government to host IPL matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the final clearance will depend on whether all safety and security requirements are met.
When and where will IPL auction take place?
The Indian Premier League mini auction will take place on December 16 in Abu Dhabi where 369 players will go under the hammer. Two-time champions KKR will have the most work at hand with 13 slots to fill following the IPL 2026 retentions. All teams have a combined remaining purse of ₹237.55 crore to spend at the 2026 IPL auction, with KKR alone having a warchest of ₹64.3 crore.
BCCI added 19 more players in the auction
BCCI have added 19 more players in the auction, and the franchises will pick the maximum 77 players. Here are the latest editions for IPL 2026 mini auction.
Mani Shankar Mura Singh (TCA), Virandeep Singh (Malaysia), Chama Milind (HYCA), KL Shrijith (KSCA), Eathan Bosch (South Africa), Chris Green (Australia), Swastik Chikara (UPCA), Rahul Raj Namala (CAU), Virat Singh (JSCA), Tripuresh Singh (MPCA), Kyle Verreynne (South Africa), Blessing Muzarabani (Zimbabwe), Ben Sears (New Zealand), Rajesh Mohanty (OCA), Swastik Samal (OCA), Saransh Jain (MPCA), Sooraj Sangaraju (ACA) and Tanmay Agarwal (HYCA) are the additional names added to the register.