IPL 2026 Auction Live Updates: 77 slots to fill as ten teams eye Cameron Green, Venkatesh Iyer

IPL 2026 Auction Live Updates: Cameron Green could well emerge as the biggest beneficiary of the IPL mini-auction’s skewed demand-supply dynamics, particularly around seam-bowling all-rounders, when franchises gather today. With 77 slots to be filled and a cumulative purse of Rs 237.55 crore, teams with money to spend are expected to dictate the tempo, while those with lean purses will largely play a waiting game. Mumbai Indians, armed with just Rs 2.75 crore, will have little role beyond picking up a couple of uncapped players at base price.

At the centre of the spotlight is Green, alongside out-of-favour India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and England’s explosive Liam Livingstone. Pace-bowling all-rounders are a rare commodity in the T20 ecosystem, and that scarcity almost guarantees a bidding war. Kolkata Knight Riders, with a massive purse of Rs 64.30 crore and 13 slots to fill as part of a rebuild, appear best placed to go hard. Chennai Super Kings, entering with Rs 43.40 crore, are the only franchise capable of matching KKR bid for bid.

Mini-auctions, by nature, are more intriguing than mega auctions. Franchises arrive with targeted shopping lists and are often willing to stretch logic to secure players with specific skill sets. That is why Green’s relatively modest IPL record — 704 runs and 16 wickets from 29 matches — may not matter much. As an Australian all-format regular who can bat in the top order and bowl seam, he fits a high-demand bracket.

Venkatesh Iyer’s case is equally fascinating. His Rs 23.75 crore price tag last season raised eyebrows, and he endured his worst IPL campaign under that weight of expectation. With no Right To Match (RTM) card in play, KKR will need to be decisive if they want him back, even as a bid beyond Rs 10 crore would now be considered fair value.

West Indies’ Jason Holder, the third member of the pace all-rounder trio, may not generate the same buzz but offers reliability with both bat and ball — a valuable asset in a smaller auction pool. Beyond them, Livingstone and Quinton de Kock are expected to attract strong interest, while fast bowlers like Matheesha Pathirana and Jacob Duffy, along with in-form uncapped Indian Ashok Sharma, add further layers of intrigue to a tightly contested auction day.